Racial Equity Progress Report (Jan – Mar ’23)

Cheyenne Cohn-Postell, Program Officer

A quarterly report on our anti-racism work

photo of an art piece where black and white polka dotted feathers are attached to the the hands of a clock
Time Flies Clock by Jocelyn Dana Thomas.

In 2021, Mass Cultural Council launched a three-year Racial Equity Plan outlining some of the internal and external steps we will take to support and encourage an anti-racist cultural sector in the Commonwealth. As part of the plan, the Agency has committed to sharing our progress on this work each quarter:

January-March 2023 Racial Equity and Access Work Highlights

Internal

In alignment with the priorities on the Racial Equity Plan we:

  • Rolled out Cultural Equity and Access professional development courses on LinkedIn Learning
  • Hosted an ADA 101 training session that accompanied an internal Access FAQ
  • Hosted a learning session/watch party on the “Capitalism” section of the 1619 Project
  • Approved applicant BIPOC-Centered status for FY23 grants. There are 315 BIPOC-Centered organizations and 51% of these organizations have not been funded before FY23, including the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Arts & Culture COVID-19 Recovery Program.

External

  • Provided consultations with organizations on approaching Access as a system that anticipates and accommodates people with disabilities. These organizations included ArtsBoston, Berkshires Botanical Garden, Everett Art Lab, Play Zoomers, and Public Access for Arts and Education.
  • We have awarded two consultant firms from our Disability, Access & Inclusion Consulting Services RFP posted last December. We will be working with Open Door Arts, a local partner, and Art-Reach out of Philadelphia.
  • Conducted an Universal Participation Initiative office hour on board leadership and representation of people with disabilities.
  • Power of Culture blog contributions: Innovation Fund Grants, and Towards a Cultural Emergency Response.

What’s Next?
Native American and Indigenous outreach plan – we will be operationalizing steps to engage, connect, meet, and welcome prospective and current Native American and Indigenous applicants who are not presently or sufficiently supported by Mass Cultural Council.

FY24 program planning – we will start with data analysis from FY23 grant making to set priorities in our FY24 grant program audits.

Track on-going progress using our racial equity journey map.