PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS

A Leadership Journey

Mixed Magic Theatre and Cultural Events

Mount Hope Community Center

Movement Education Outdoors

Movement Ground Farm

Pocasset Pokanoket Land Trust

Reentry Campus Program

Sankofa Community Connection

Nearly all the leaders interviewed said the program gave them a rare opportunity to learn about each other’s organizations and how they could better support and collaborate with one another.

Sunrise Forever Inc

Women's Refugee Care

Youth in Action

“Acohort like this, organizations of color, has never been formed by the Foundation, so it in itself, was inspiring,” said Joann “Jo” Ayuso, founder and executive director of Movement Education Outdoors (MEO).

Movement Education Outdoors, also one of the 11 chosen, started in 2018 to work with youth and community organizations from Providence, Woonsocket, Central Falls, and Pawtucket to offer transformative outdoor experiences yearround—with the premise that all youths should have equitable chances to be in and enjoy outdoor activities. The activities include hiking, kayaking, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, water and air quality testing, and mindfulness and movement practices.

The 11 to 13-year-old youths are also stewards of an urban garden (formerly Sidewalk Ends Farm) in the West End neighborhood of Providence. The gardeners practice organic and no-till farming as well as learn food justice education, Black and Indigenous mutual aid, and community building from guest educators and mentors of color.

Last summer, MEO youths also learned from another cohort organization, Mixed Magic Theatre (led by founders Bernadet and Ricardo Pitts-Wiley), who, for a long time, were among the few caretakers of Black art in Rhode Island. The husband and wife duo have been nationally recognized artists for more than four decades. They started the theater company in 2000.

The MEO kids started by finding and learning about plants on Narragansett, Pokanoket, Nipmuc, and Wampanoag land, and then used the plants to make dye for costumes. Mixed Magic then taught them about poetry and small performances that they performed to their families at the conclusion of the program two weeks later.

It is unlikely that the collaboration would have happened without the Foundation’s capacity building program. Collaboration, Ayuso believes, makes organizations stronger. It was one of the benefits she pointed out about the program, which is currently in its second (of three) years. Another was how clarifying the strategic communications audit was.

In addition, the unrestricted grant money—each organization receives $30,000 per year for each of the three years—allowed MEO to increase the work hours of operations manager Jordan Schmolka from quarter to half time.

Monteiro used the funds to purchase tablets for their participants’ schooling, which relieves the staff from having to print out 100 textbooks. The money was also used to help with strategic planning for RCP’s board.

Mixed Magic made critical safety changes—such as glass partitions in the musicians’ area to prevent the spread of COVID-19 within the theater as well as allowed the Pitts-Wileys to supplement box office revenue to maintain its Pawtucket space and continue to build more literate and arts-active communities.

“The lack of arts programs in schools is taking a severe toll on us,” Ricardo said while reminiscing about all the talent they used to get from Hope High School and others.

“Those kids were our pool and that wasn’t sustained,” added Bernadet.

The program, they collectively said, also gave them the breathing room and opportunity to re-evaluate their operations and incorporate new ways to cater to more generations—such as by having a bigger presence and more marketing on social media to attract younger audiences.

“We have to re-invent the living theater experience to be an experience where you have to be there to fully appreciate what we’re doing,” Ricardo said. “Even football—there are people who would rather watch the game on TV than be at the game.”

They don’t have all the answers on how to grow further, but having the other cohort members bounce ideas off certainly helps. Ayuso said years two and three of the program can possibly take a deep dive into one matter each organization is struggling with and help them overcome it.

One thing is certain: this won’t be the last cohort of nonprofits of color that will benefit from this program. All of Rhode Island grows stronger with their longevity.