The United Arts Fund Leadership Retreat, held annually each year, brings together leaders and staff of the nation’s United Arts Funds and Community Arts Funders to discuss best practices, trends, difficulties, and opportunities that face the field. This year’s Retreat, held virtually, includes choices between a half-day workshop and four 1-hour webinars.
Agenda
November 16, 2020
1:00pm-5:00pm EST ArtsU Intensive:Moving from a Closed Membership to an Equitable Community Arts Funder
In this half-day workshop, attendees will hear from a UAF leader on their transition from a traditional UAF model to drastically changing re-allocations, diversifying grantees, deepening community partnerships, building trust, and engaging with their business community in new ways. Attendees will also learn from a non-UAF grantmaker on how they have shift their grantmaking practices to be more equitable. This workshop will include presentation, activities, individual and group work time, breaks and networking time.
November 18, 2020
11:00am – 12:00pm EST: Focused Topic Conversation: Partnering with Your Chamber/CVB/BID on the Road to Relief, Recovery and Reimagination
In this session, attendees will hear from an arts and chamber partnership working together to provide relief and opportunities for each other’s constituencies, as well as from one of the chamber leaders who initiated both national sign-on letters to Congress urging Federal support for arts and culture.
1:00pm – 2:00pm EST Focused Topic Conversation: Flipping Funding Models and Changing GOS allocations
In this session, attendees will hear from leaders who have shifted grantmaking cycles, changed allocations or added competitive project support, or are planning for new kinds of arts community support mechanisms for the future.
November 19, 2020
11:00am – 12:00pm EST Focused Topic Conversation: Engaging with Small & Mid-Sized Businesses Post-COVID
In this session, attendees will hear examples of how arts leaders have engaged their small and mid-sized business communities who are struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic
1:00pm – 2:00pm EST Focused Topic Conversation: Future of Workplace Giving, limited-term campaigns and year-round giving
In this session, attendees will hear from two organizations who approach fundraising, workplace giving, and campaigns very differently. Attendees will have the chance to discuss and explore shifts in fundraising, federated campaigns, and giving cycles.
In this half-day workshop, attendees will hear from a UAF leader on their transition from a traditional UAF model to drastically changing re-allocations, diversifying grantees, deepening community partnerships, building trust, and engaging with their business community in new ways. Attendees will also learn from a non-UAF grantmaker on how they have shift their grantmaking practices to be more equitable. This workshop will include presentation, activities, individual and group work time, breaks and networking time.
About this Intensive
November 16, 2020 at 1:00 - 5:00 PM EST
In this half-day workshop, attendees will hear from a UAF leader on their transition from a traditional UAF model to drastically changing re-allocations, diversifying grantees, deepening community partnerships, building trust, and engaging with their business community in new ways. Attendees will also learn from a non-UAF grantmaker on how they have shift their grantmaking practices to be more equitable. This workshop will include presentation, activities, individual and group work time, breaks and networking time.
Learning Objectives:
Hear detailed case studies of two organizations that have transformed their allocation and grantmaking processes to fund their community more equitably.
Discuss with peers the nuances and challenges of shifting from a traditional closed United Arts Fund model to a becoming an equitable community arts funder.
Learn about strategies to engage previously un- or under-funded communities and organizations, shift fundraising and donor engagement, and manage public relations during this process.
Christen Boone
President & Chief Strategy Officer
The Boone Group
Christen Boone is the President & Chief Strategy Officer with the Boone Group and is deeply committed to building stronger and more vibrant communities. She is a community connector, social entrepreneur and a leader in nonprofit development and strategic philanthropy.
Christen served in leadership roles for some of the country’s most treasured cultural institutions and served for 7 years as the President & CEO for Fund for the Arts. She led the strategic evolution to a more inclusive and equitable organization, driving access and opportunity, and serving as a community catalyst. The Fund for the Arts is one of the country’s oldest and most successful local arts agencies driving collective impact, collaborative action and is the largest funder of the arts in Kentucky, providing more than 700 grants to local educational initiatives, arts institutions and community projects. Under her leadership, the Fund developed the Imagine 2020 cultural plan creating a shared vision and priorities for the arts and culture sector and its cross-sector partners in government, corporate and philanthropy.
As a fundraiser, Christen has raised nearly $350 million for regional nonprofit organizations including Actors Theatre of Louisville, the High Museum of Art in Atlanta and Cincinnati’s Fine Arts Fund. As a community She served as Director of the Greater Louisville Project and founded the Boone Group, coaching and consulting in nonprofit and community development. Christen led the efforts to raise more than $120 million to build The Parklands of Floyds Fork, one of the nation’s largest new urban parks. She serves as Chair of the Center for Nonprofit Excellence, and on the Boards of Downtown Development Corporation and the Governors Scholars Program and Foundation.
She received the Michael Newton Award for Arts Leadership by Americans for the Arts and the Nonprofit Leader Award by Center for Nonprofit Excellence. She was recognized as a Distinguished Alumni from Bellarmine University, Top 100 Most Influential People by Insider Louisville, 40 Under 40 leader by Business First, Volunteer of the Year by SafePlace Services, and with the Dream Maker Award by Amped.
Rishard Allen
Director of Grant Services, Arts Council of Indianapolis
Rishard Allen is the Director of Grant Services at the Arts Council of Indianapolis, working with artists and arts organizations to maintain the financial viability of the arts and culture sector in Indianapolis and to promote and elevate Indianapolis as a thriving cultural destination in the Midwest. His portfolio includes $1.8M in organizational grants and individual artist fellowships and over $10M in COVID-19 relief funding. As a grantmaker, Rishard values the opportunity to make deep financial investments in individuals and organizations with strong commitments toward innovation, creativity, and community impact.
Rishard is an Indianapolis-native who graduated from Indiana University Bloomington in 2017 with a B.S. in Arts Management and a minor in Psychology. Since graduating, Rishard has served as a Program Director at Arts for Learning Indiana and has assisted WolfBrown, a national nonprofit research consulting firm, with an evaluation of The Kennedy Center’s Ensuring the Arts for Any Given Child program. Rishard is also a Board Member of the IndyHub Foundation and recently served on the inaugural Americans for the Art’s Arts & Culture Leaders of Color Steering Committee.
In this session, attendees will hear from an arts and chamber partnership working together to provide relief and opportunities for each other’s constituencies, as well as from one of the chamber leaders who initiated both national sign-on letters to Congress urging Federal support for arts and culture.
About this Session
In this session, attendees will hear from an arts and chamber partnership working together to provide relief and opportunities for each other’s constituencies, as well as from one of the chamber leaders who initiated both national sign-on letters to Congress urging Federal support for arts and culture.
Learning Objectives:
Hear examples of how and arts and chamber partnership have navigated opportunities to support each other’s communities during COVID.
Learn about top priorities for local Chambers of Commerce and what opportunities there might for partnerships.
Understand challenges facing local Chambers of Commerce and other economic development partners
Nicole Mullet
Executive Director, ArtsNow
Nicole serves as the Executive Director of ArtsNow, an organization that helps build and strengthen a thriving Summit County arts and culture scene to add economic vitality and social vibrancy to our region. In this role, she collaborates with local leaders and organizations to advocate for the arts and culture sector, connects local talent to resources, and leads a team that promotes the diverse catalog of arts and culture offerings across multiple platforms to Summit County residents.
Steve Millard is President & CEO of the Greater Akron Chamber and in that role is responsible for leading the Greater Akron Area’s Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce serving Medina, Portage and Summit Counties. Steve’s work is focused on the chamber’s efforts to drive jobs and investment in the Greater Akron region, improve the region’s competitiveness and to advocate for the needs of the business community in the region with its elected and appointed officials.
Prior to joining the Greater Akron Chamber, Steve has served as Executive Vice President of the Greater Cleveland Partnership; President and Executive Director of COSE (the Council of Smaller Enterprises); as a supply chain management consultant with Accenture (at that time Andersen Consulting) and as a supply chain specialist with GE Healthcare (at that time GE Medical Systems).
Steve is a certified chamber executive, serves on several not for profit and for profit boards and is a frequent adviser to businesses and a regular facilitator for strategic planning and leadership team retreats.
Steve has a BS in Transportation and Distribution Management and a BS in Finance from Syracuse University and his MBA from Case Western Reserve University.
Government Relations Manager, Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce
Megan Greeley is the Government Relations Manager for the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce where she advocates on behalf of their 1,300 member companies at the City, State, and Federal levels. In her role at the Chamber she has led several coalition building efforts including the Business for Federal Research Funding coalition and a grassroots effort to support the cultural institutions industry after COVID-19. She joined the staff at the Chamber in 2019 after starting her career in Government Relations for John Hancock where she also served as the Federal PAC Manager. Megan’s career at the intersection of business and government has illustrated the need for more honest and authentic communication between policy stakeholders and the power of storytelling to create advocacy momentum. Megan graduated from Boston College with a degree in Political Science and participated in the United States House of Representative Page Program as a teenager. She credits her time as a Page working in the Democratic Cloakroom for sparking her interest in a career in policy and advocacy. Outside of work Megan serves on the Alumni Board of Directors for Thayer Academy, the New Frontier Network Steering Committee for the JFK Presidential Library Foundation, and volunteers with Christmas in the City each year.
In this session, attendees will hear from leaders who have shifted grantmaking cycles, changed allocations or added competitive project support, or are planning for new kinds of arts community support mechanisms for the future.
About this Session
November 18, 2020 at 1:00 PM EST
In this session, attendees will hear from leaders who have shifted grantmaking cycles, changed allocations or added competitive project support, or are planning for new kinds of arts community support mechanisms for the future.
Learning Objectives:
Learn from peers about the different approaches to allocating for GOS support, when budgets for grant cycles are created, and the pros and cons of different systems.
Discuss different kinds of grantmaking, and discuss which will be most beneficial in future post-COVID years.
Susan Mendenhall
President, United Arts of Greater Fort Wayne, Inc.
Susan Mendenhall is an advocate for the vibrancy of Greater Fort Wayne and the role that philanthropy plays as a catalyst for community development. She brings fifteen years of experience in nonprofit leadership, strategic visioning and planning, fundraising, grant-making, and program development. Susan currently serves the greater Fort Wayne community as President of Arts United. Prior to joining the staff of Arts United, Susan held fund development positions at the Fort Wayne Philharmonic, served as the League of American Orchestras Development Fellow at the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, and lived for a time in Bogota, Colombia. She is an active member of the Greater Fort Wayne, Inc. Board of Directors, the Northeast Indiana Regional Partnership’s Regional Opportunities Council, the Fort Wayne Public Art Commission, and Quest Club. In 2018, Susan was recognized as a “Person of the Year” by Fort Wayne Magazine. In 2015, she was honored with a “Forty Under 40” award by Greater Fort Wayne Business Weekly. Susan holds an M.A. in Philanthropic Studies from the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and a B.S. in Public and Nonprofit Management from the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs. She lives in Fort Wayne with her husband, Derek, an engineer at Fort Wayne Metals, and daughters Claire and Heidi.
In this session, attendees will hear examples of how arts leaders have engaged their small and mid-sized business communities who are struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic.
About this Session
In this session, attendees will hear examples of how arts leaders have engaged their small and mid-sized business communities who are struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Learning Objectives:
Understand the challenges and opportunities facing small and mid-sized businesses who have had long standing arts partnerships and examples of how these are being navigated.
Discuss opportunities on building forward-looking partnerships with small businesses.
Kelly Wicks
Owner, Grounds for Thought
Kelly Wicks is a Bowling Green Ohio based entrepreneur and small business owner. He has been active in promoting community, small business, art and transportation for three decades. He is a co founder of the Black Swamp Arts Festival, former director of the Downtown Business Association and local chamber of commerce board member. His company, Grounds For Thought, has won multiple coffee, business and arts appreciation awards since its founding in 1989.
In this session, attendees will hear from leaders who have shifted grantmaking cycles, changed allocations or added competitive project support, or are planning for new kinds of arts community support mechanisms for the future.
About this Session
November 19, 2020 at 1:00 PM EST
In this session, attendees will hear from two organizations who approach fundraising, workplace giving, and campaigns very differently. Attendees will have the chance to discuss and explore shifts in fundraising, federated campaigns, and giving cycle.
Learning Objectives:
Hear two examples of UAFs who are approaching fundraising and workplace giving very differently and understand the reasons behind those differences.
Explore the notions of a federated campaign versus regular annual giving.
Learn about models from UAF peers around new or different types of fundraising efforts in a COVID world.
Deborah Senner
President/CEO, Allied Arts Oklahoma City
Deborah McAuliffe Senner is President and CEO of Allied Arts of Oklahoma. She has worked to strengthen the arts and cultural sector for 20 years. Allied Arts provides critical funding and increased awareness for over 40 arts organizations who deliver arts programming to all 77 counties in Oklahoma. In 2019 she was honored with the distinguished Governors Arts Award for leadership in the arts. She is most passionate about arts education and as such seeks to ensure that all Oklahomans have access to the arts. She serves on numerous boards, task forces and committees, most recently appointed to the Statewide Nonprofit Council and the Governor’s task force for COVID 19.
James McKissic is the President of ArtsBuild, and has led the organization since January 2020. For six years prior, he served as Senior Adviser to the Mayor and the Director of the City of Chattanooga Office of Multicultural Affairs. His role for the City included linking diverse businesses to city government contracting opportunities, improving the City’s supplier diversity efforts, and working to promote justice, inclusion, and equity among the employees and citizenry of Chattanooga, often using the arts as a tool for inquiry, discussion and bridge-building.
Contains 3 Component(s)
Recorded On: 11/16/2020
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Recorded On: 11/18/2020
About this Session
Contains 1 Component(s)
Recorded On: 11/18/2020
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Recorded On: 11/19/2020
Contains 1 Component(s)
Recorded On: 11/19/2020
