Equity Plan

We are committed to fostering an equitable arts environment, empowering underrepresented voices, and working towards more inclusive, diverse, and accessible communities. In FY2025, we are:

• Continuing research and work to map out long-term strategies for relationship building with the 42 Native Nations in our shared geography. We are forming compensated focus groups of selected individuals from the Native Nations in our region to begin relationship building and learn directly from the communities, and creating a visual map of the Reservation Lands across our region that will live on our website.
• Partnering with the National Assembly of State Arts Agencies (NASAA) to conduct an analysis of Arts Midwest’s grantmaking work in the past 5 years. We seek to understand how our grant making has served different populations, geographies, community types, organization sizes, etc. Following this project, Arts Midwest will identify actions to take to attain greater fairness in how grant funds are distributed.
• Launching new grant programs and awards that prioritize funding to underrepresented and marginalized artists and organizations. These programs include Cultural Sustainability, ArtsHERE, the Midwest Culture Bearers Award, and another initiative to be announced in the fall.

We seek to represent diverse voices, cultures, genders, abilities, and perspectives in all our materials. In FY2025, we are:

• Developing a comprehensive Arts Midwest style guide that provides guidelines for inclusive and respectful language that avoids stereotypes, biases, and discriminatory language. This document will be ready by Fall 2024.
• Conducting quarterly audits to ensure that we are centering Native communities, Rural communities, and communities of color in our stories and work. We will share our Creativity News Desk coverage statistics with our community at the end of 2024

We actively work towards greater financial-based social responsibility and transparency, aligning our financial practices with our mission and values. In FY2025, we are:

• Reviewing, analyzing, and finding integrated ways to store and report on our vendor data to understand if we are working with a diverse selection of vendors.

We recognize that professional development is essential for career advancement, and we provide all staff with equal access to training and development opportunities. In FY2025, our staff members are engaged in opportunities that include:

• Attending the Indigenous Media Conference July 25-27 2024 in Oklahoma City, OK
• Attending the 2024 Tribal Leaders Summit September 4-5 2024 in Bismarck, ND
• Attending the Leadership Exchange in Arts and Disability (LEAD®) Conference July 29-August 2, 2024 in Seattle, WA
• Attending the 2024 International Conference of Indigenous Archives, Libraries, and Museums November 12-14 in Palm Springs, CA
• Completing a certificate in American Indian Studies from Minneapolis College

We believe that education is a key component of achieving equity in the workplace. In FY2025, we will:

• Hold an all-staff training on racial equity
• Hold an all-staff training on accessibility