There is a growing awareness that culture (our deep, unconscious rules and norms), particularly organizational culture steeped in white supremacy, capitalism, patriarchy, imperialism, ableism and more, is pervasive and holds all systems of oppression in place. In this interactive session, participants and facilitators will share possibilities about how we can shift toward cultures of care, healing, emotional awareness, emergence, rest, humane notions of productivity, power with rather than power over, and more. This will be a highly interactive session. We encourage participants to bring a journal for self-reflection. Together we’ll share embodied healing practices and discuss why personal and collective healing is vital for work toward justice in all kinds of entities and groups.
What people are saying about the program:
“I appreciated the attunement that Meena and Ti brought to the group that participated. The framing and way into the conversation was handled so beautifully with such vulnerability and grace.”
“I only wish the conversation could have been longer!! It was so fruitful and allowed us all to open up with each other in such sensitive ways.”
Photo by Kyle Bostian
Tiffany “Ti” Wilhelm (she/they) supports applicants and the internal workings of the Opportunity Fund through the role of Program Officer/Operations. They are committed to continuously supporting the shifts, large and small, that are needed to move philanthropy toward more just cultures and practices. Previously, she was Deputy Director of the Greater Pittsburgh Arts Council where she raised funds, oversaw programming, and co-led initiatives on accessibility for people with disabilities and racial equity. Tiffany has been involved with several collectives focused on educating and organizing white people for racial justice, both in Pittsburgh and in the national theatre field. Prior to Pittsburgh, they were Executive Director of the Central Wisconsin Children’s Museum and taught in an undergraduate arts management program at University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point. A theatre person at heart, she has an MFA in Theatre Management from Florida State University and also worked as the Artistic Administrator at the Asolo Repertory Theatre in Sarasota, Florida.
Tiffany was honored to be part of the first cohort of the national artEquity anti-racist facilitator training program in 2015 and is now part of the board and core facilitation team for artEquity. They have facilitated with Equity Quotient (led by long-time arts professional Keryl McCord) and currently with Farsight as well as other justice-seeking collaborators including a community called Practicing Liberation. Tiffany is also part of an organizing group hosting sessions for people in the theatre sector working to implement the WeSeeYou White American Theatre demands, and they serve on the board of the City of Bridges Community Land Trust. Ti’s sources of joy and resilience include a community garden, dear ones near and far, and five still-slightly-feral cats. She is constantly seeking the places and spaces where she can be of the most use in building toward more justice and liberation.
Photo by Jeffrey Filiault
Meena Malik (she/her/hers) is a musician, arts consultant, facilitator, and mediator, who is known as a mover and shaker re-defining what conversations around equity in the arts look like. An alumna of the artEquity Facilitator Training, a current member of the Emergent Strategy Ideation Institute Facilitation Cohort and a Senior Associate at The Aspire Group, Meena is actively engaged in a national community of practice for anti-oppression work in the arts. Formerly as the Senior Program Manager of Theater at the New England Foundation for the Arts (NEFA), she managed the National Theater Project (NTP), a grant program that supports the creation and touring of devised ensemble theater work. Meena organized and led “Beyond Orientalism: The Boston Forum” in October 2017 and is a co-founder and steering committee member of Boston’s first API (Asian Pacific Islander) Arts Network.
As an artist, Meena has performed with Opera Providence, MassOpera, Boston Opera Collaborative, New England Orchestra among others. She was a founding member and performer with Voci Angelica Trio, an international band that created a musical fusion of world folk and classical music, for 14 years. With Voci Angelica, Meena toured to the USA’s East Coast, Midwest and Southern regions, Canada, Japan, and South Korea.