The Beautiful Moment

The Palace of Fine Arts, Red Bay Coffee, Stern Grove, Women of the Black Panther Party mural, Ferry Building Farmers’ Market, Legion of Honor...these were some of the favorite Bay Area spots our audience and panelists shared at the opening of  Expert Night for Battery Powered’s fall theme, The Bay Area’s Future.

Our community gathered to learn how we can ensure the Bay Area is a place of beauty, belonging, and opportunity for all. Through this lens, our theme focuses on three areas that were highly impacted by the pandemic, are vital to the vibrancy of our neighborhoods, and where our funding can make a difference:  Artists and Cultural Practitioners; Entrepreneurs and Small Businesses; and Activists and Organizers.

When we presented these three pillars, panelist and curator of Creatives in Place, Tammy Johnson encouraged us to recognize that people, and communities, don’t live segmented lives. An artist is also an activist and often their own small business as well. Small business owners collaborate with artists to bring beauty to their work, and there’s no example of a successful activist organization that doesn’t have artists involved. 

Taking the Pulse

Moderator Karina Moreno kicked off the discussion by asking for a status check from each expert on their industry. Lateefah Simon, President of the Akonadi Foundation, called the last 18 months a moment like no other. We have seen a consciousness shift, a reckoning with race, and a time when activists, organizers, litigators, and a whole ecosystem around them are fighting for “... for that thing, bigger than any political party, that we believe and have never seen -- that thing called justice. Where people actually get what they deserve, like food, like housing.”

As the Chief Strategy Officer for Small Business Majority, Mark Herbert shared how small businesses have been devastated, but not all of them equally so. Small businesses in San Francisco were some of the hardest hit in the country, and entrepreneurs of color fared the worst. He was quick to note that the last 18 months haven’t changed the dynamic, but exacerbated it, laying bare systemic issues that women entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs of color in particular face, like lack of access to capital.

 During the pandemic, Tammy led an effort to understand what it will take for creative and cultural communities to remain rooted in the Bay Area. Interviewing 22 Bay Area artists, she heard that artists have long been dealing with affordability issues like housing -- COVID just took it to another level. During the pandemic they leaned on their extensive networks to survive, but they also took a moment to pause and think, what do I want? Their response to the pandemic has been to innovate. The question for us now is, how do we reward their innovation?

A Beautiful Moment

Rather than focus on the challenges of this moment, each of our experts was full of the possibilities presented. This is a beautiful moment, Lateefah said. “This can truly be the Renaissance time. We are in the Rolling 20s, right now! Somebody is going to ask you, ‘What did you give and what did you do, how did you throw down during the human rights and civil rights movement of the 20s?’ And we’ll have to answer that question.”

Tammy added that we have the chance to reimagine the future -- “and that’s what artists do.”  The Bay Area depends on artists and culture makers for the beauty it brings to our cities, for the tourist dollars it attracts, and for preserving the story of our legacy. “I don’t have to sit here and hope. It’s happening.”

Mark shared that after years of lip service from politicians, small businesses are now seeing real investments from the state. But he challenged that we cannot simply bolt new resources on top of an existing infrastructure that doesn’t work for many entrepreneurs. Amongst the 10,000 California businesses that Small Business Majority supports, they consistently find access to capital is at the top of their concerns, as well as how to provide quality benefits for employees. With public funding coming down, this moment provides an opportunity to build a financial infrastructure that addresses their real challenges.

Take a Risk

Each of our panelists urged that this is the moment to redefine and rethink risk when it comes to investments of resources. “Think of the artist ,the activist, the abolitionist -- the Nelson Mandela, the Martin, Harriet, Miles -- who has deeply moved you,” Lateefah challenged our audience.  “Now imagine if you asked them to submit their theory of change or strategic plan to get $20,000.” This is the time to invest in people who are sculpting a world we can’t yet see. “Support the leader. Support the idea. Support the team. Let them do their work.”

Mark told us that who business owners are matters. For example, women are two times as likely to hire women; entrepreneurs or color are more likely to create jobs for other people of color. And yet these entrepreneurs are often labeled “risky” in traditional investment terms and struggle to access capital to seed their dreams. We need to redefine risk, Mark said. Philanthropy can support that through innovative structures such as the CA Rebuilding Fund, which pairs philanthropy with traditional investment to create financial products for those previously considered too risky.

Tammy shared that each artist who participated in Creatives in Place received $10,000, for which they had to “answer my email and get on a call with me for 90 minutes. If that kept one artist in the Bay Area, it was worth it,” she said. We need to support these individuals as whole human beings, give them the space to create, innovate, nurture their networks, reach across sectors, and fail forward. “Listen. Pay attention. Be a partner,” she concluded. 

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To learn more about our fall theme, check out the Issue Brief here.

Our Bay Area’s Future theme continues on October 18 with Organization Night (both a live and virtual option), where our 10 grantees will present their work. You can RSVP for the live event HERE or the virtual event HERE. 

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Battery Powered is The Battery's giving program. To learn more or get involved, visit thebatterysf.com/batterypowered or contact [email protected]