Grateful for You as I Reflect on Equity

As the 2023 holiday season now surrounds us, I hope that each of you will find comfort and mega-loads of joy with the folks you hold dear. I’m looking forward to abundant family time this year, as well as NASAA’s virtual holiday party thanks to inspiration and organization from elves Marisa Summers and Sandi Tun. And I truly appreciated time spent this week with state arts agency executive and deputy directors at NASAA’s first Executive Forum, in (chilly!) Santa Fe. As much fun as the season can be, it’s also a time of year that can be difficult for so many of us. Let’s especially embrace friends and family who are experiencing a challenging time this year.

During this season, many of us are particularly mindful of being grateful for all that we have. Certainly, everyday gratitude should be front and center, but at this time of year, which coincides with the closing of one NASAA fiscal year and the freshness of another, I’m especially grateful to be part of the state arts agency family. This community overflows with people who labor with love each year to benefit all communities across the country. As your work progresses, you’re reaching more people and bringing the many benefits of the arts to more areas. I find it a real honor to be part of the state arts agency family, and I hope you do as well.

This is also a season for reflection. I’m reflecting on how much I’m learning this year, particularly in NASAA’s journey to be a more equitable organization. Our ongoing learning calls forth the need to practice what we’re learning; the practice, often humbling, helps the learning continue, and it provides the fuel for how individuals and the organization as a whole advance equity.

As I learn and practice, I’m exploring resources on trust, group patterns and accountability. I’m currently finding the resources below really helpful and sharing them with the hope they can be helpful to you too.

Trust: Brené Brown’s BRAVING framework is designed to support trust building. Use of the frame begins from a place of learning and inquiry, with an eye toward trust building. BRAVING stands for: boundaries, reliability, accountability, vault, integrity, nonjudgment and generosity. Brené Brown is a Texas based researcher and storyteller who studies courage, vulnerability, shame and empathy.

Group Patterns: Trina Olson and Alfonso Wenker of Team Dynamics posted a podcast on Committees at Work. The duo explores patterns around groups and committees in workplaces, emphasizing the importance of communicating across mix. I’m a particular fan of Trina’s guidance around “being as strategic about our people as we are about our programs.” Theirs is an insightful conversation.

Accountability: I’m thinking about accountability in action. What does it look like, and how can I and how can groups best ground and support our practices to be accountable? As we all know, sometimes the impacts of our actions can be quite distinct from our intentions, even when those intentions are good. When a miss happens, it’s important to acknowledge it, seek to understand its impact and determine a path forward. Writer and educator Mia Mingus offers a four-part frame for accountability that includes self-reflection, apology, repair and changed behavior. You can check out her blog post on accountability.