In early October, Driehaus Foundation Program Officer Urooj Shakeel moderated a panel discussion at the annual Grantmakers in the Arts (GIA) conference held in Chicago. The panel was titled “Aao Mil Baithen – Come, Let’s Sit and Talk Together: Funding Community Collectives, What Funders Should Know.” Panelists included the co-founder of SpaceShift Collective Asad A. Jafri, co-director of the Race, Caste, and Colorism Project at Northwestern University Laura Brueck, and Driehaus Foundation Senior Program Director for Built Environment funding Brad White. Approximately 50 people enjoyed samosas, chai, and conversation at Usmania Fine Dining on Devon Avenue on Chicago’s north side.
Aao mil bathein, Urdu and Hindi for “come, let’s sit and talk together” is SpaceShift’s community-based initiative that celebrates the arts and culture of South Asia and its diaspora, focusing specifically on Devon as a cultural hub. Its extended projects like Starlight, funded by Northwestern through Professor Brueck, and Shamiana, funded by the Driehaus Foundation, bring community members together through arts activations on Devon. SpaceShift started in 2021 by cultural workers who wanted to reimagine Devon through art, culture, and community.
The discussion examined arts collectives and how funders can support them, with Starlight and Shamiana as case studies. Panelists observed collectives emerging in part from nonprofits working in new ways early in the COVID-19 pandemic. These efforts centered BIPOC leaders and focused on new ways to sustain leadership and redistribute work.
Collectives operate in ways that build community power, often connected to practices in the solidarity economy movement – building equity and sustainability through community ownership of work, food, housing, and culture. Collectives present not only new ways of working for artists and community-builders but also different models for community-centered economies based in mutual care. Grantmakers can support collectives and build infrastructure for the solidarity economy by adopting some of its principles to shift grantmaking practices.
Funders Laura Brueck and Brad White both serve as examples of what this can look like. Through a relational approach, they were able to provide funds quickly by absorbing administrative time and effort that often falls to grantseekers, allowing a grassroots group like SpaceShift to focus on its core mission and impact. In his panel remarks, Brad mentioned that building authentic relationships with community members helps him understand what is happening in communities and reminds him of what he does not know. “I only know what I know, [but] I don’t know what I don’t know. This is what concerns me. What am I missing? What projects and organizations am I missing?” This approach positions collectives not as the recipients of charity but as valued partners in achieving goals shared by funders and by community members.
Urooj shared some takeaways and next steps to conclude the conversation:
- Allocate more unrestricted funding and expand risk tolerance
- Fully fund the costs of fiscal sponsorship or intermediaries
- Reduce administrative burden by streamlining reporting requirements and being open to alternative forms of due diligence and proposal submission
- Use funder influence to support collective action help create conditions for shared learning
- Build relationships with community members and support efforts that increase their agency and control of their own resources self-determination
- Fund community spaces for connection and cultural expression
It’s important to remember that funding spaces doesn’t always mean funding buildings, it can also mean supporting other kinds of convening and community engagement spaces. Asad A. Jafri mentioned “We started our work through street activations on an intersection we popped up on Devon. But our goal was to have a temporary physical space, and we accomplished that with the Starlight store front with over 1,000 participants. However, we learned quickly that a physical building created a fourth wall, and we weren't able to reach people who wouldn’t normally go out of their way to interact with us. We wanted to be back on the streets and be seen by the average person walking by so they can feel welcomed in. Shamiana allowed us to be embedded in the public landscape again.”
After samosas and chai, attendees took with them a copy of SpaceShift’s zine, A Day on Devon, and a list of local businesses to explore, which you can find below along with some further reading on the ideas the panel discussed.
KAHO, PEEYO, ASH KARO!
Eat, drink, have fun!
Restaurants
Ali’s Nihari & BBQ
Bundoo Khan
Café Alif
Nepal House
Sabri Nihari
Vegetarian Restaurants
Annapurna Simply Vegetarian
Udupi Palace
Uru-Swati
Bakeries
Kabul Naan
King Sweets
Sukhadia’s Sweets and Snacks
Tahoora Sweets & Bakery
Groceries
Afghan Market Grocery
Fresh Farms International Market
Patel Brothers
World Fresh Market
The 2024 Grantmakers in the Arts conference Chicago City of Big Shoulders and Bigger Ideas was supported by the Driehaus Foundation Arts and Culture program.
Recommended Reading:
- Alexis Frasz, “Culture and Community Power Building,” Stanford Social Innovation Review, Winter, 2024.
- Jennifer Near, “Can Philanthropy Relinquish Enough Power and Control to Support BIPOC Communities in Governing Resources for Themselves?” Medium, August, 2020.
- Mandy Sharp Eizinger, Kevin Peterson, and Tory Martin, “Innovations in Talent Investment for Individuals, Organizations, and Communities,” Johnson Center, January, 2022.
- Mandy Sharp Eizinger and Tory Maring, “New Organizational Structure Models are Toppling the Staff Pyramid,” Johnson Center, January, 2023.
- Michael Lukens, “Unlocking Potential: Collective Leadership in Nonprofits,” Blue Avocado, August, 2023.
- Natalia Linares and Caroline Woolard, “Solidarity Not Charity: Arts & Culture Grantmaking in the Solidarity Economy,” March, 2021.
- Phoebe So, “Reimagining the Philanthropic Resource Chain: Lessons from Fiscal Sponsorship and Intermediary Funds,” Center for Effective Philanthropy, July, 2024.
- Toolkit for Cooperative, Collective, and Collaborative Cultural Work by Press Press
- Richard Tobaccowala, “Modern Leadership,” The Future Does Not Fit in the Containers of the Past, October, 2024.
