Uniting the Community through Equity-Focused Work:
From the outset, inclusion and racial equity were woven into the fabric of Assembly. Our Board of Directors intentionally reflects our region’s multifaceted residents and organizations.
Increasing equity within the arts and culture sector is among the most challenging work. Our equity efforts have been explicitly strengthened with funding from key foundations—The Cleveland Foundation, The George Gund Foundation, The Chuck and Char Fowler Family Foundation and other generous supporters.
Assembly prioritizes forming connections between staff and communities of color—from the Black Local Artists of Cleveland-Kuumba to the programmers at Julia de Burgos Cultural Arts Center. We’re elevating local BIPOC arts collectives through fiscal sponsorship and the Arts Leadership Residency.
We have engaged Equius Group to help us survey Greater Cleveland’s landscape, establish metrics, and execute deliverables in the third quarter of 2022. We look forward to updating you on this work as it unfolds.
As part of our internal equity practices, Assembly is participating in the Stand Against Racism Challenge by the YWCA Greater Cleveland, having set dedicated time for learning and reflection about social, systemic, and institutional racial inequity into our staff meetings.
One of Assembly’s foundational goals is to “Redress the systemic racism in the arts and culture sector through more equitable allocation of funding and resources to historically under resourced artists and organizations.”