In the first episode of a three-part podcast series by Grantmakers in the Arts, DDCF Program Director for the Arts Maurine Knighton spoke about the impetus behind the Racial Equity Coding Project, which aims to gather data around racial equity funding practices to illustrate a more nuanced and accurate accounting of grantmaking efforts to advance racial equity. The Equity Coding Project began with a culmination of research led by DDCF with Callahan Consulting for the Arts and provides funders with an opportunity to examine and refine their own coding practices, as well as to adopt new data collection practices for the future.
Knighton said: "We have established a good body of work, but this is the kind of work that's going to require stamina and ongoing commitment from us as an entire field over time. It's not one and done. And much in the way that the societal questions that we are grappling with in this country around racial equity, are not going to be one and done. They took many years for things to get to where they are."
The episode, "The Racial Equity Project: Unpacking the 'Why,'" also included the insights of Susan Feder, program officer for arts and culture at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and Adam Fong, program officer in performing arts at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.
Listen to the full episode on the Grantmakers in the Arts website.