COMMITMENT TO DISTRIBUTED LEADERSHIP

There is no such thing as a race-neutral arts organization; every arts organization is producing either racial inequity or equity. A commitment to institutional re-structuring is an essential step in becoming a fully inclusive, anti-racist, multicultural organization. As the Bridge Project’s programs became increasingly driven by a commitment to cultural and racial equity, it became clear that there was a pressing need for the organization to evolve toward distributed leadership and increase artist ownership over programs. Only in this way can we align our internal structures with the values that drive our programs.

This is about more than perfunctory title changes. It's about going beyond the optics of diversity or handing out checks to artists of color. It's a sea change in organizational culture.

Organizations tend to calcify.
Like skilled dancers, we must constantly re-awaken ourselves to respond to a changing world.

We do this work to re-align our intentions and our organization with collective liberation.
We do this work to give power to artists and artists of color.
We welcome dialogue about this work so we can grow together.  

Interested in having our Co-Director team speak at an event or internally to your constituents on distributed leadership?

Email admin@hopemohr.org with your request.

Read about our distributed leadership work:

In Practice: Stepping Back to Move Forward (In Dance)
Inside Power Shift: A Conversation on Distributed Leadership (Grand ReUnion)
Shifting toward Models of Equity (Stance on Dance)
Collective Models in the Arts (S.F. Chronicle)
Another Bridge Toward Equity (S.F. Classical Voice)
Notes on Stepping Back (the body is the brain)
Value-Driven Restructuring (the body is the brain)
Presentation on Re-Structuring Arts Organizations (video)

ORGANIZATIONS HMD STAFF HAVE CONSULTED for OR SHARED OUR DISTRIBUTED LEADERSHIP work WITH:

Arts Connect International
Artichoke Dance
Berkeley Cultural Trust
Creating New Futures (White Caucus)
Dance Artists National Collective
Dance NYC Conference
Dance/USA Conference
Draper/Echoing Green Leadership Transition Cohort
Sustainable Economies Law Center
LeaderSpring
National Performance Network (National Conference)
New Yorkers for Culture and the Arts
North Carolina School of the Arts
On the Boards
Western Arts Alliance

“Distributive Leadership is a means by which organizations re-organize and distribute power and authority with accountability to multiple people throughout an organization, as opposed to top-down structures. Re-distributing leadership re-examines who holds and exercises power and authority to make decisions.”

—Safi Jiroh of LeaderSpring. HMD has partnered with LeaderSpring in our distributed leadership work.