Mississippi: Diversity Toolkit

In addition to incorporating diversity into their own policies and programming, state arts agencies can encourage their grantees and other stakeholders to commit to practices that foster cultural awareness and inclusiveness. A recent example of this can be found in the Mississippi Arts Commission‘s (MAC) Diversity Toolkit, which offers guidance on how grantees can make the arts accessible to people of myriad backgrounds, circumstances and interests. The toolkit is designed to help arts organizations better reflect and engage all segments of the publics they serve. It first identifies opportunities for addressing diversity and then outlines ways to develop diversity strategies. Both programming and staffing/leadership decisions are addressed. MAC makes clear, however, that the toolkit is not exhaustive and that every group committing to diversity has to determine for itself what its goals are. To help groups begin their internal diversity dialogue, MAC’s toolkit concludes with recommended resources and action prompts. For more information, contact MAC Arts Industry Director and Accessibility Coordinator Diane Williams.