IMPORTANT DATES
- Application opens: Fri, February 14, 2025
- Application deadline: Sat, March 15, 2025, by 12 AM (midnight) PST
Spots are limited! We highly encourage submitting before the deadline. - Applicants notified of participation: Thur, April 3, 2025
APPLICATION PROCESS
- Application (Estimated 30-45 minute application process)
- 15-minute interview with Intersection to discuss your application responses in more detail.
OVERVIEW
Intersection for the Arts proudly announces our new THRIVE: A BIPOC Arts Leadership Program. The application deadline is March 15, 2025, by 12 AM (midnight) PST.
THRIVE provides BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) arts leaders, visionaries, changemakers, and culture bearers resources and skills so they can grow community, belonging, and confidence rooted in power.
This 10-week program (May 3 – July 12, 2025) features a 15 participant cohort selected from an application process. The program is facilitated by fellow leaders Aimee Espiritu, Anthem Salgado and Yesenia Sanchez.
Intersection recognizes the vital need for equity and diversity in the leadership of Bay Area arts organizations. We also realize that many “traditional” leadership development programs are built on systems that focus on individualistic models of leadership and status-based career advancement. Even fewer programs exist that address the unique needs of BIPOC leaders.
THRIVE: A BIPOC Arts Leadership Program is not your typical leadership program. THRIVE is specifically designed to address the unique challenges and experiences of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) arts leaders. This program will focus on the importance of empowering participants to hold leadership positions while acknowledging their cultural perspectives, values rooted in community and authentic collective representation. This program is based on a collaborative, community-based learning model and offers tailored strategies to navigate systemic barriers in the workplace and within the arts ecosystem.
We dream of a thriving arts ecosystem where BIPOC leaders shape programs from a place of creativity and wellness, not scarcity. In this visionary world, knowledge flows freely through collaborative networks, creating strong communities that celebrate diverse perspectives. Here, equitable access to resources means that BIPOC arts leaders can focus on innovation and growth while staying true to their values and cultural foundations.
This program was designed by Intersection’s THRIVE: BIPOC Arts Leadership Advisory Council, which comprises multidisciplinary, multigenerational BIPOC Arts Leaders working at the intersections of arts and social justice. Meet the THRIVE Advisory Council here. This program is underwritten by the San Francisco Arts Commission’s Cultural Equity Initiative.
Intersection for the Arts is providing this resource to our community in recognition that over half of our membership identifies as BIPOC and have identified additional support needed around leadership. This program is open to all who identify as needing these resources.
PROGRAM FEATURES
- 15 participant cohort (ten cohort members will be selected from Intersection’s fiscally sponsored members, five will be selected from the public)
- Instructors: Aimee Espiritu, Anthem Salgado, & Yesenia Sanchez
- No required “homework”
- 6 sessions: two in-person retreats (4.5 hrs each) in San Francisco and four sessions on Zoom (2 hours each), plus 1 hour of individual coaching with program instructors
- 20 hours total
THIS PROGRAM IS
- Rooted in our Values of Empowerment, Knowledge, Community, Creativity, & Wellness
- Informed by Intersection’s IDEA framework (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Access)
- Artist-centered
- Supportive & collaborative
- Process-based, rather than outcome-based