The Kenneth Rainin Foundation has embarked on a transformational journey to learn how to live more fully into its values and center equity, interdependence, and creativity in its work. An intrinsic part of this process is the Foundation’s Arts program, which envisions a world where Bay Area artists thrive.

The Arts Program team is collaborating with the Cultural Strategies Council to support its evolution towards equity. The specific aims of the first phase of this work are to:

1. Develop an explicit theory of how the program can contribute to advancing greater equity within the Bay Area arts ecosystem, drawing upon relevant work by allied entities;
2. Situate the program within this landscape of activity; and,
3. Use this baseline to conduct a critical analysis of the program’s existing and potential body of work to identify specific opportunities to refine, dive deeper, or experiment with emerging strategies in ways that are accountable to beneficiary communities.

These activities were prioritized in light of their potential to support strategic learning, adaptive action, institutional change and ready the ground for subsequent phases of work in 2022.