CULTURAL COUNCIL FOR PALM BEACH COUNTY SEEKS TO BUILD A PIPELINE OF DIVERSE LEADERSHIP FOR THE ARTS AND CULTURAL SECTOR WITH NEW ARTS ADMINISTRATORS OF COLOR FELLOWSHIP

The Cultural Council for Palm Beach County has announced a new fellowship that will amplify new and diverse voices in arts and culture and build a strong leadership pipeline for the sector.

Funded by the Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation, the Arts Administrators of Color Fellowship is a 10-month pilot program for emerging and mid-career leaders who are part of underrepresented communities across the arts and cultural sector in Palm Beach County. Through professional and leadership development, networking, mentorship, and participation in a national convening for arts administrators of color, seven Fellows will be selected to successfully complete the program, resulting in a clear pathway to future leadership roles.

“We are grateful to the Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation for funding this new and impactful program for Palm Beach County’s cultural sector,” said Dave Lawrence, the Cultural Council’s president and CEO. “Research from Americans for the Arts and the Hewlett Foundation suggests that emerging and mid-career leaders of color have not been advancing to senior leadership positions or are migrating out of the field rather than up through it. We want to change that, and we believe that cultural equity is essential to a sustainable arts and cultural sector and a vibrant and thriving community.”

Highlights of the program will include one-on-one mentoring opportunities with Lawrence and members of the Council’s board of directors to discuss career objectives and goals, group mentoring sessions with established arts leaders of color, sponsored participation in the annual Arts Administrators of Color Network Annual Convening (travel and lodging included), networking and team-building sessions and tours of cultural organizations across the county with behind-the-scenes insights from leaders and introductions to managers in various roles. The program will culminate at the annual Arts and Tourism Summit: Access for All in August 2025, a free conference at the Palm Beach County Convention Center hosted by the Cultural Council, Discover The Palm Beaches, and other tourism partners.

Applications for the program are now open and will be accepted through Friday, August 16. To apply or learn more, visit www.palmbeachculture.com/council-events/professional-development/#aaocf.

The new fellowship is part of the Cultural Council’s Year of Extraordinary Support, or YES! campaign, which is currently on track to provide more funding for Palm Beach County’s arts and cultural sector during the current fiscal year than it has at any single point in its 46-year history.

The YES! campaign is the culmination of planning and the creation of new funding initiatives supported by the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners, Palm Beach County Tourist Development Council, the Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation, the Frederick A. DeLuca Foundation, and individual philanthropists that combined total more than $13.5 million to support the cultural sector in Palm Beach County.

For more information about the other initiatives in the YES! Campaign or to contribute to the Cultural Council’s YES! Fund, visit www.palmbeachculture.com/yes.