TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD

“Culture, like food, is necessary to sustain us. It molds us and shapes our relations to each other. An inequitable culture is one in which people do not have the same power to create, access or circulate their practices, works, ideas and stories. It is one in which people cannot represent themselves equally. To say that American culture is inequitable is to say that it moves us away from seeing each other in our full humanity. It is to say that the culture does not paint a more just society.”

— Jeff Chang, We Gon’ Be Alright: Notes on Race and Resegregation

Leeway Foundation celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2018. This important birthday seemed a good time to celebrate, reflect on and learn from what led us to this point in the foundation’s development. This milestone provided an opportunity to share what we’ve learned about developing a more equitable and community-engaged philanthropic practice, and its potential to have a deep and positive impact in the communities we serve.

A big shift began in 2004, when after a generational transfer of Leeway’s leadership, the foundation began an exploration of what it would mean to focus its resources on supporting artists who were interested in creating work with community transformation as its core intent. It’s important to remember the context this work began in. This was before the field of arts philanthropy had widely embraced practitioners working at the intersection of arts, culture and social change. When Leeway began this work in earnest, there were a few arts funders explicitly supporting this work, among them the Nathan Cummings Foundation, the Kentucky Foundation for Women, the Lambent Foundation (formerly the Starry Night Fund) and the Ford Foundation. Social practice or socially engaged art as a field was gaining momentum in academia, but many of the artists and cultural producers we think of as exemplars of the kind of practices the foundation wanted to support identified in other ways — as community arts practitioners, as cultural workers and organizers, as political artists, and more.

Though a number of the people involved in the foundation at the time were artists, we were also cultural organizers, invested in constructing a practice that engaged with questions of racial and cultural equity and framed philanthropy as a form of movement building, beginning with the baseline that relationships are central to this practice. It was clear to us that centering relationship and community-building is the most effective way to amplify the impact of our limited grantmaking resources. We hoped shifting power away from the foundation by involving community members in the organizational leadership and decision-making processes:

Would open up the world of philanthropy to more challenge Expand the definitions of the form this work could take Create more opportunities in terms of access — not just who is funded, but the how of funding

Our experience has taught us that funders have to be willing to use resources, both human and monetary, to achieve their vision for change. Over a decade ago, we set out to identify

members of our community who are recognized and highly valued for their artistic and cultural contributions to the neighborhoods and identity-based communities within which they offer their work. Because many we seek out have never before claimed space as artists, we charged ourselves with creating a platform accessible to the people who are already doing the work in communities. Many of them for years, some for decades, others just beginning, including those who have never thought of themselves in the contexts of art and social change, or the formalized realms of cultural production. We believe this report affirms that in order to achieve Leeway’s goal of being accessible to a broad constituency — one that diminishes boundaries created by age, class, gender identity or ability — and do it well, there must be a commitment to using foundation resources to go out and meet people where they are.

We are grateful to Leeway’s board and staff for their commitment to the work of the foundation and their meaningful contributions to this process. Their experience and insight greatly enriched the report we present to you now.

Throughout this process we have been hugely appreciative of the ways in which the people we are in relationship with, some newly acquainted others long-term — applicants, grantees, community partners, our colleagues in philanthropy and our allies and accomplices from around the country — agreed to participate in this process and share their experience of and insights about Leeway’s impact and place in their communities. We are humbled by their openness and generosity.

Over time, we have been excited and encouraged by the acknowledgment of the efficacy of Leeway’s philanthropic practice, as well as the increased support for individuals and organizations committed to working at the intersections of art, culture, community and change. We offer this report as a contribution toward moving the work forward and hope members of the different communities of which we are a part find it useful as they develop more equitable practices and explore ways of shifting power in philanthropy. As we embark on an organizational strategic planning process, we look forward to getting your feedback and continuing to be part of the field-wide learning exchanges from which we’ve gained so much.

Ashe!

Denise Brown Executive Director

Amadee Braxton Board President

Leeway would like to thank:

Barbary Cook for the rigor, flexibility and good humor she brought to the process. We look forward to working with you in the future.

Bonfire Media for their enthusiasm for this project, nuanced grasp of the work of Leeway and its grantees, but most of all their patience. Most especially Emily, Sheila, Gabrielle and Maddie, who really made sure this train ran on time.

Maria Rosario Jackson for her guidance and support early on in helping us set the frame for this project and reminding us of the importance of “invisible work.”

Sage Crump for helping us kick off this process as we imagined the future and Leeway’s place in it.

Aarati Kasturirangan, Arleta Little, Carlton Turner, Eleanor Savage, Ezra Berkley Nepon, Gretjen Clausing, Jess Garz, Pamela Shropshire, Roberto Bedoya, Sharon L. Robinson, Tina Morton and community members who participated in the July 2019 strategic planning session for reviewing the products and providing critical feedback at different stages of the process.

The staff and board of the Foundation, particularly Sara Zia Ebrahimi and Melissa Hamilton, for their diligence in managing all the moving parts and reminding us time and time again that if it wasn’t in Basecamp, it didn’t really exist; the board’s impact assessment working group – Germaine Ingram, Carolyn Chernoff and Eli VandenBerg – for their thought partnership; and Cesali Morales for her artful report design.

Everyone who agreed to be interviewed, adding their voices to the telling of the story of Leeway’s impact, and the participants in the community meeting who provided their vision of what Leeway is and can be. The realization of this work is only possible as the result of their willingness to candidly share their experience of the foundation.

Special appreciation goes to Linda Lee Alter and Sara Milly, who stepped aside to support a transformative vision of what Leeway could become and were willing to tell their story.

And finally, to everyone who has been part of the Leeway community over the past 25 years. Our work is only possible because of your willingness to engage with us and share your gifts with Leeway and the communities you love so deeply.