Description

The Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI) was founded in 2001 in California to promote knowledge sharing, networking, and financial independence for individuals in the arts, by providing business training and grants, and by incubating innovative projects.
In January 2019, CCI launched AmbitioUS, an initiative to encourage the development of alternative economic paradigms and new social contracts “that prioritize the wellbeing of people and the planet.”   Today, CIC contends, Americans in the gig labor force increasingly resemble artists, with precarious working arrangements, lack of financial resources, income insecurity and low wages.  At the same time, local and diverse communities across the U.S. have been building and experimenting with new economic institutions designed to provide more equitable and sustainable access to financial security and independence. 
To support this work and to promote alternative economic paradigms, AmbitioUS will aggregate a pool of $2 million each year to distribute as grants, investments, and other mechanisms in support of these experiments and knowledge-sharing.
With a grant from the Luce Foundation, CIC would produce a Resource Book for funders, and organize a convening to foster connections and learning among those funders and “cultural economy trailblazers.”
Our grant would be consistent with previous Public Policy work on the role of the arts in the U.S., and with our support for best practices in philanthropy.  The proposed Resource Book and convening are intended to inform funders about the nature of this work, and to strengthen networks that would allow such work to grow.