Our Commitment to Racial Equity
WOCA is a national, grassroots organization founded by Black women and initiated by a community of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) arts leaders. We work to advocate for and provide professional support to arts leaders and cultural workers of color who are navigating the nonprofit industrial complex. By design, WOCA was founded from a racial equity framework which sees racism as both individual and institutional, both explicit and implicit. WOCA exists to combat these visible and invisible injustices through the examination of racially inequitable practices that exist in the arts sector. Our commitment is to help engage and educate around the conversations of racial and gender equity and to help create action-oriented solutions that ultimately shift the practices and policies of the field. Primarily, our practices are to:
move the conversation of racial equity forward towards actionable steps for the arts and culture sector
create a real and virtual community to discuss issues in the arts field, specifically affecting women of color
facilitate and ignite national discussions and action-oriented movements, specifically championing equity in the field beyond the performance stage
interrogate the oppressive systems inherent in the arts (racism, classism, sexism, etc.) that reinforce inequitable practices, policies, and structures
provide professional development for members, and the field at large, through programs that dissect the artistic and administrative process through a racial equity framework
foster a community that shares information about collaborative programming, accessible funding, sustainable resources, and career and professional development opportunities
Given our co-founders’ positionality as Black women living at the intersection of race and gender, the commitment to racial and gender equity is not something that was adopted by our network, but rather, it is something that is inherent to our organizational being, the very core of our existence.