The Center for Cultural Power

The Center for Cultural Power (the Center) is a national, women of color, artist-led organization designed to inspire media and culture makers to imagine, and help build, a world where power is distributed equitably. Its goal is to advance new national narratives that create the cultural conditions for greater inclusion and equity. The Center is using this general operating support grant to build the power of its network of artist-activists through fellowships and trainings; activate and inspire those artist-activists to engage in storytelling in collaboration with social justice non-profit and movement communicators; and build the cultural strategy field through research, convenings and network events. The Center’s goal is to build an ecosystem of artists and social justice advocates able to elevate the voices of those from non-dominant communities in public debate, especially on policies and issues that disproportionately affect them, from climate change to police and immigration reform.

The Center for Cultural Power (the Center, formerly CEL Education Fund) harnesses the imagination of artists from non-dominant communities to contribute to creating new national narratives that lead to greater inclusion and equity. The Center is using grant funds to build the power of its network of artist-activists through fellowships and trainings; to activate and inspire those artist-activists to engage in storytelling in collaboration with social justice non-profit and movement communicators; and to build the cultural strategy field through research, convenings and network events. The Center’s goal is to build an ecosystem of artists and social justice advocates able to elevate the voices of those from non-dominant communities in public debate, especially on policies and issues that disproportionately affect them, from climate change to police and immigration reform.

The Center for Cultural Power (formerly Citizen Engagement Lab Education Fund (CEL) provides support to the social change sector to take advantage of the power and reach of popular culture, art and media to influence national narratives and shape norms and values to better reflect the democratic ideals of pluralism and tolerance. It is partnering with HARNESS, a new effort launched by actor America Fererra that is focused on shifting current dominant narratives about social issues through collaborations between grassroots leaders and popular culture influencers, to convene more than 100 social justice leaders and culture makers December 13-15 in Scotts Valley, CA. The convening is designed to enable the nascent and growing community of advocates and artists working at the intersection of social justice and popular culture in an effort influence social norms and values to learn from each other and develop a shared agenda for 2020.

Citizen Engagement Lab Education Fund (CEL) was created in 2008 as a home for social entrepreneurs developing new projects and organizations that leverage the power of media and digital technologies for social good. Since then, CEL has worked with dozens of startups, entrepreneurs, and philanthropic partners to expand the impact and reach of people powered change. Building on the knowledge and experience it gathered in its first decade, CEL is now refocusing its efforts on helping the social change sector take advantage of the power and reach of popular culture, art and media to influence national narratives and shape norms and values that better reflect the democratic ideals of pluralism and tolerance. This general operating support grant supports CEL as it builds the infrastructure for and coalesces a community of artists, activists, media makers, and others leveraging popular culture and entertainment media to amplify – and bring into the mainstream – the perspectives and lived experiences of under-represented groups.

CEL Education Fund invests in new leaders, tools, and strategies that help individuals and organizations harness the power of modern communications technologies to shift culture and transform society. This grant supports CEL Education Fund to participate in a national convening of participatory civic media organizations supported through MacArthur’s Journalism and Media program. The meeting is designed to help coalesce the emerging field of participatory civic media, of which CEL Education Fund is part, by facilitating new connections and collaborations and building a shared sense of identity among a new breed of media and culture organizations using participatory media to amplify historically marginalized voices and strengthen American democracy.