Thank you so much Carla Dupree, my sister from Mer-land as we say in Maryland
On behalf of everyone at Mass Cultural Council represented here by Deputy Director, Dave Slatery and Director of People and Culture, Cathy Cheng-Anderson, thank you for this award. We are so grateful. Thank you so much to President, Pam Breaux, Chair Omari Rush, and everyone on the NASAA team. And many thanks to our hosts, the Mid-America Arts Alliance.
I hear that NASA is only $600 away from its fundraising goal, so, in honor of the amazing work of NASAA, Mass Cultural would like to fill that $600 gap and donate this award money back to NASAA for a total of $3100.
We are excited. And I’d like to share with you a few reasons why.
I’m excited to be at my first NASAA conference – which I think is the most important rooms in this country.
I’m excited to share the stage with Ms. Hunt, Ms. Andres and Ms. Irwin.
I’m excited to brag that the backbone of our equitable grant making audit and revisions is rooted in NASAA’s Equity Choice Points document.
I’m excited to be amongst creatives and supporters of creativity, who have the anointed skill to see the world differently – a diverse, inclusive, equitable and just world, and bring that world to life.
I’m excited to walk into an agency 19 months ago that already valued DEI, showcased by a staff that was close to 50% BIPOC with a BIPOC Chair, Nina Fialkow and a BIPOC Vice Chair, Marc Carroll.
I’m excited that the agency had a history of DEI values with trend setting programs like the Universal Participation Programs run by Charles Baldwin, which taught and funded access for and by disabled and deaf people across the cultural sector of Massachusetts.
I’m excited for the increased Venezuelan culture that we received on the Island of Martha’s Vineyard
I’m excited for the leadership of Cheyenne Cohn-Postell and Carmen Plazas, along with Cathy and Charles who keep us honest and on point about our equity goals.
I’m excited to have a Council, Legislature and Governor who vehemently support and advance equity.
I’m excited to have a staff and staff leadership who embrace racial equity, anti-racism, diversity, equity and inclusion as Acts of Love, and as my friend, Kansas City’s Jeff Church says, not acts of compliance. These acts of love are not conversations and concepts, but true actions that show love to people who haven’t been loved by this country.
I’m excited to work with people who don’t see this work as Acts of compliance and who are constantly pioneering “what more can we dos”
I’m excited to work with a team that is trying to embed this work into the culture and every operational practice so that when all of us are gone, the work does not unravel.
I’ll leave you with one thought, as I shared with my ED colleagues yesterday, when all this is said and done, what side of history do you want to be on.
Thank you!