Advancing New Standards of Practice

Reading an article that appeared in the NPQ (Nonprofit Quarterly) website on Feb. 23, 2021 titled Reckoning with a Reckoning: How Cultural Institutions Can Advance Equity by Kim Zeuli, Maria Rosario Jackson, and Seth Beattie.

I was pondering ways in which the authors envisioned cultural institutions, museums included, can advance a framework of system change. The authors assert institutions’ ability to “align operational assets with artistic assets in the areas of purchasing, hiring, workforce development, small business development, community capacity building, core products and services, and real estate development.” They sourced the Kresge Foundation’s “The Overlooked Anchors” report.

The NPQ article asserted that Arts and cultural organizations should remain nimble, flexible in a changing environment as they always have. Importantly, they should rethink their missions to engage and take an integral approach to the growing movement for racial and economic justice.

Museum administrators and thought leaders would do well to heed calls to address system change to promote greater equity and racial inclusion and outreach to BIPOC communities. They should use their institution’s operational assets to advance systemic change to create greater service opportunities for their communities.