Investing in ALAANA Cultural Organizations
Reflections from the Community Leadership Project
Monday, October 30, 10:00am – 11:30am
Organized and moderated by Amy Kitchener, Executive Director, Alliance for California Traditional Arts.
Presented by Dillon Delvo, Executive Director, Little Manila; Lily Kharrazi, Program Manager, Alliance for California Traditional Arts; and John McGuirk, Program Director, Performing Arts, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
This session shares perspectives from a foundation partner, an intermediary, and a grantee in the Community Leadership Project, a seven-year, $20M initiative that strengthened small and mid-size organizations serving low-income communities of color in California. This initiative, supported by The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, and The James Irvine Foundation, seeded collaborations, making general operating grants and supporting leadership development and technical assistance for hundreds of organizations. Drawing on the grantmaking approach and community of practice developed by the Alliance for California Traditional Arts (ACTA), which focused on a capitalization strategy, implemented ethnographic listening, and built upon inherent strengths of the culturally based organizations, grantees developed and integrated the practices of sustainability, renewable income, and shared leadership within traditional cultural frameworks. Highlighting the experience of grantees illuminates what funders can learn about the challenges and negotiations for ALAANA-based organizations in developing models.