Attacks on racial equity and DEI efforts by those who resist progress are nothing new, but the work to advance these efforts must and will continue. Our upcoming learning series will kick off with a free town hall session responding to this crucial moment and featuring national leaders with deep expertise in racial equity, philanthropy, policy, arts advocacy, and grassroots organizing. By joining this informative session you can expect to learn about:
Recent policy efforts and court rulings affecting arts and culture organizations committed to advancing racial equity.
The impact of those policy efforts on arts and culture organizations, specifically BIPOC-centered organizations.
Current efforts to combat these attacks and strategies to safeguard arts organizations during uncertain times.
Resources to continue advancing racial equity through our work despite efforts to stall or reverse progress.
This year is a crucial election year for our country, and there is much at stake, particularly for our communities. Join us to learn how to navigate these times strategically and in solidarity.
This event is designed for BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) and/or global majority-identifying artists and arts leaders.
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Featured Speakers
E. Bomani Johnson, Senior Director for Special Initiatives, ABFE
Rooted by a racial justice philosophy, E. Bomani Johnson is committed to building environments that allow all people, especially Black people and other people of color, and their families, to thrive. A native of Chicago, Illinois, Bomani has more than 25 years of community organizing, program development, organizational development, advocacy, strategic grantmaking and philanthropic advising experience having worked in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors locally, nationally and internationally. He possesses a unique blend of skills, competencies and perspectives that has resulted in a strong track record of successful programming and impactful philanthropic investment throughout his career. Bomani currently serves as the Senior Director for Special Initiatives at ABFE: A Philanthropic Partnership for Black Communities. ABFE’s mission is to promote effective and responsive philanthropy in Black communities, and does so by providing a plethora of professional development and capacity building resources, tools and events designed to advance racial equity and racial justice in institutional philanthropy. Previously, he co-founded and served as the first executive director of Nafasi Fund, a fiscal sponsor that focused on supporting Black-led organizations and projects that serve Black communities. While leading Nafasi Fund, he developed their three-pronged culturally restorative approach to fiscal sponsorship that centers the experiences of Black organizational leaders and prioritizes their health and wellness. He also oversaw Nafasi’s growth from an idea to being an established fiscal sponsor supporting more than ten projects, managing more than $16 million of its Partners’ assets and building an operating budget of nearly $1 million all in its first full year of operation. Bomani is honored to have co-designed and led the grantmaking processes of the $9.1 million Momentum Fund of the United Philanthropy Forum, and the $24 million Greater Atlanta COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund - a collaboration between Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and United Way of Greater Atlanta. Together, these initiatives supported the operations and COVID-19 response efforts of more than 400 nonprofits, community foundations, women’s foundations and United Ways throughout the United States, on Native American Reservations and in U.S. Territories between the onset of the pandemic in 2020 and mid-2022.
In 2015, Bomani founded Emergent Pathways, a management consulting firm that builds and implements strategies for racial and gender equity and justice with organizations working to increase positive life outcomes for children, youth and families of color. Bomani has served on several nonprofit boards of directors, and advises a number of nonprofit and philanthropic leaders. One of his most cherished professional accomplishments is being a member of ABFE’s Connecting Leaders Fellowship Program Class of 2014-2015. Bomani is a father of two, loves spending time with his family and is an avid tennis player.
Quanice G. Floyd, Executive Director, National Guild for Community Arts Education
Quanice G. Floyd (she/her) is a renaissance woman who wears many capes. Born and raised in NYC, she has spent over a decade in Washington, DC where she has received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Music Education from Howard University and Kent State University respectively. Her passion for arts administration led her to pursue her second Master’s degree in Arts Management at American University and is currently a doctoral student at Drexel University. Quanice was recently appointed as the Executive Director of National Guild for Community Arts Education after previously serving as the Executive Director at Arts Education in Maryland Schools Alliance, an arts education advocacy and service organization. She is also the Co-Founder of the Arts Administrators of Color (AAC) Network, an organization committed to empowering artists and arts administrators by advocating for access, diversity, inclusion, and equity in the arts in the DC and Baltimore metropolitan areas. She has also been a public-school music educator where she taught elementary and middle school general music, chorus, band, and orchestra. Quanice serves as a commissioner for the DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities and is an alumna of Fractured Atlas’ Artist Campaign School, the National Guild for Community Arts Education's Leadership Institute (CAELI), ArtEquity's Racial Facilitator Cohort, Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Music Educators and Arts Administrators Academy, 4.0 Schools' Essentials Program, and the Arts Education Collaborative’s Leadership Academy. Quanice received the Americans for the Arts' American Express Emerging Leader Award and the Arts Advocate of the Year Award from the Coalition of African Americans in the Performing Arts.