Announcing our First Round of 2018 Grant Recipients
2 minute read
This year in entertainment began under the glow of the Golden Globe Awards, when actresses and activists walked the red carpet arm in arm to call for an end to harassment and discrimination in Hollywood and beyond. It was a powerful display of what becomes possible when entertainment and social justice unite. Together, we can shift the cultural and political tides of our country.
But with white nationalism on the rise, families being ripped apart by deportations and the travel ban, and an increasing number of of women sharing #MeToo stories of abuse and trauma, it feels more important than ever for artists and activists to work together to create stories for audiences that make the values of justice, equity and pluralism the norm in our society.
And so today, we are thrilled to announce our latest cohort of grantees—12 visionary leaders and organizations using their platforms in entertainment and activism to drive cultural change for mass audiences. And in case you missed it, Deadline already broke the story this morning with an article on this stellar group!
New grantees include:
| Issa Rae and Deniese Davis of ColorCreative |
| Mahyad Tousi and Reza Aslan of BoomGen Studios |
| Emil Pinnock, Chiké Okonkwo and Ian Robertson of Unleashing Giants Studios |
| Graphic novelist and pop culture critic Jeff Yang of Secret Identities Universe |
| OBIE Award-winning theater artist Maha Chehlaoui of Pass the Mic Media |
| Culture change strategist Mik Moore of Moore + Associates, in partnership with MTV, Spotify and Revolutions Per Minute |
| Social impact agency, Propper Daley |
| National social justice organization, People’s Action |
| Texas-based immigrants rights organization, JOLT Initiative |
| Communications and culture change organization, Opportunity Agenda |
| Storyline Partners, a new network of television writers rooms’ strategists, and |
| The League, an experimental narrative change agency |
The Collaborative also welcomes Zahra Noorbakhsh, Senior Fellow for New Comedy Pipelines, as the first of our four 2018 senior fellows.
Please visit the Pop Culture Collaborative website to learn more about these grantees and their work.
With support from the Collaborative, this cohort of grantees will explore ways to create better pipelines into both Hollywood’s writers room and board rooms for people of color and women; strategies that leverage innovative audience research insights to advance long-term culture change for and with marginalized communities; and new partnerships, events and resources that will lead to transformative cultural organizing strategies.
It becomes clearer every day that the only way wholistic change—personal, cultural and political—will be achieved in America is with the vision and creativity of all people. Our grantees are leading the way towards this new day, and we are proud to uplift and support their work through our grantmaking.
The Pop Culture Collaborative is a 5-year, $25 million fund organized by leading philanthropies to support artists and activists working at the intersection of entertainment and social change.
Learn more, peruse our grants, and join the community!
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