Programs and results
What we aim to solve
The New England Foundation for the Arts is one of six officially recognized non-profit regional arts organizations that work in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts to enrich the nation’s cultural landscape on a regional basis. NEFA programs build cultural vitality in New England and the nation. We invest in artists and the creative process and strengthen the capacity of cultural organizations. NEFA programs foster equitable access to the arts. NEFA programs support artists and communities in many ways: through grant-making; by providing program services that build networks and knowledge to strengthen the arts; and by conducting research into the creative economy in New England and demonstrating the economic impact of the arts. We maintain a digital platform and directory of New England’s creative assets, CreativeGround. NEFA’s work is financed with contributions from individuals, foundations, corporations, and government agencies.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
International Cultural Exchange
Center Stage (www.centerstageUS.org) harnesses the power of the performing arts to increase cross-cultural understanding. Center Stage is a public-private partnership produced by NEFA with general management by Lisa Booth Management Inc. (LBMI) and is an initiative of the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, launched in 2012. Through Center Stage, performing arts ensembles from abroad participate in individual, month-long, custom-designed performance residencies in 4-7 communities across the U.S. Tours provide the opportunity to foster mutual understanding and engage the American people in cultural diplomacy while providing participating artists exposure, professional growth, and the opportunity to directly experience America and Americans for themselves. Center Stage has brought 194 artists in 29 ensembles from nine countries and regions from 2012-2020 reaching 100 communities in 36 states and Washington, D.C. Regions featured thus far have been Algeria, Egypt, Haiti, Indonesia, Morocco, Pakistan, Tanzania, Ukraine, and Vietnam. For Season Five of Center Stage ensembles from Colombia and Peru will begin tours of the U.S. in 2022, and for Season Six ensembles from Argentina, Armenia, and Taiwan will begin tours of the U.S. in 2023.
Creative Economy
NEFA’s creative economy work supports the creative sector and creative placemaking work by highlighting the rich cultural activity of New England, quantifying its impact, connecting its leaders, and providing opportunities for anyone across the U.S. to apply research frameworks or New England model projects locally. Our work includes www.CreativeGround.org, a real-time online community that reflects the rich range of creative people and places at work in the six New England states in order to promote and connect them with each other and with those who know that vibrant neighborhoods go hand-in-hand with a vibrant creative sector. This free online directory includes profiles for cultural nonprofits, creative businesses, and artists of all disciplines. CreativeGround is currently undergoing a strategic planning process. The next phase of the site will harness the combined forces of its directory and database to be a dynamic celebration of Creative New England and the most inclusive and representative reflection of the creative economy in the U.S. Our most recent research report titled The Jobs in New England's Creative Economy and Why They Matter was released in June 2017 as part of NEFA’s ongoing effort to assess the current state of the creative economy and its employment trends. Another piece of our Creative Economy work is the Creative Communities Exchange (CCX). At the event we gather New England’s creative and cultural community leaders for networking and practical creative economy projects prepared by their peers. CCX, which rotates to different New England communities, highlights a wide range of successful community initiatives from around New England that leverage the local creative sector for revitalization and growth of the broader community.
Dance
NEFA founded the National Dance Project (NDP) in 1996 to support the creation and touring of new dance works throughout the United States. Now in its third decade, NDP is widely recognized as one of the country’s major sources of funding for dance. NDP has invested more than $42.5 million in funding to artists and organizations to strengthen partnerships and bring dance into communities across the U.S. To date, NDP has supported 383 artists and companies and 814 cultural organizations, helping 709 unique dance works reach more than 3.3 million audience members in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and Guam.
Theater
The National Theater Project (NTP) promotes the development of artist-led, ensemble, and devised theater work while extending the reach and life of these projects through touring. Through its Creation and Touring Grants, NTP directly supports artists and nonprofit organizations in the creation and touring of new theater works around the country. Since its launch in 2010, NTP has distributed crucial funding to artists and presenters, and is one of the few funding sources for devised theater in the country. To date, 75 new theater works have been supported; touring of those works has reached 43 different states across the U.S. In addition to the Creation and Touring, NTP supports artists and the field through several initiatives and supplemental grants, including regional convenings which bring together artists, presenters, arts service organizations, and presenters to discuss issues in creating and presenting theater within their region; cohort meetings between grantees and NTP advisors to build relationships and support their projects; Presentation; Presenter Travel; and Transition grants to support artist sustainability post-NTP supported touring.
New England Programs
New England Presenting and Touring programs support the presentation of performances, readings, and film screenings throughout New England, and provide professional development to New England-based presenters and performing artists. Current grantmaking programs include New England States Touring, which funds the presentation of regional, national and international artists presented by New England-based nonprofit organizations; the New England Presenter Travel Fund, which subsidizes travel costs for New England-based presenters to preview work that they are interested in bringing back to their community; and New Work New England, which provides grants to New England artists for the creation and production of new work that has potential to engage New England audiences in the disciplines of dance, film, interdisciplinary work, music, musical theater, opera, poetry, storytelling and theater. In response to the impact of COVID-19 on our region’s arts infrastructure, the New England Arts Resilience Fund awarded grants in 2020, as a part of the nationwide United States Regional Arts Resilience Fund, an initiative of the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations and The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation with support from the federal CARES Act. This grant opportunity was to offer opportunities for stabilizing New England nonprofit arts and cultural organizations and planning for the future.
Public Art
NEFA's Public Art programs support the field of public art through grantmaking and field-building collaborations. By investing in artists and a community of practice, NEFA is contributing to the evolving field of public art and inspiring more vibrant public spaces and public life throughout the region. Primary grant making programs currently include Public Art for Spatial Justice, Collective Imagination for Spatial Justice, the Public Art Learning Fund, and the Newell Flather Award for Leadership Public Art. NEFA invests in artists and the creative process, and cultivates artists as civic leaders, to support public art that inspires, disrupts, and engages the public sphere to strive for greater equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility in our public culture.
Where we work
Awards
National Funders Award 2014
Theatre Communications Group
Angel Award 2015
International Society for the Performing Arts
External reviews

Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsTotal dollar amount of grants awarded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Total number of grants awarded
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Average grant amount
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of press articles published
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Number of unique website visitors
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Number of donations made by board members
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adults
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Goals & Strategy
Reports and documents
Download strategic planLearn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Please see NEFA's 2018-21 Strategic Plan at https://www.nefa.org/strategic-plan-2018-2021
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Please see NEFA's 2018-21 Strategic Plan at https://www.nefa.org/strategic-plan-2018-2021
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Please see NEFA's 2018-21 Strategic Plan at https://www.nefa.org/strategic-plan-2018-2021
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Please see NEFA's 2018-21 Strategic Plan at https://www.nefa.org/strategic-plan-2018-2021
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Case management notes, Community meetings/Town halls, Constituent (client or resident, etc.) advisory committees,
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve,
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With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
New England Foundation for the Arts Inc.
Board of directorsas of 6/4/2021
John Henry
MarlinSpike, LLC
Term: 2022 - 2021
John Henry
MarlinSpike, LLC
Amy Zell Ellsworth
Philanthropy
Douglas Keith
Lincolnshire Advisors
Taylor Bynum
Dartmouth College
Iván Espinoza-Madrigal
Lawyers for Civil Rights
Geoffrey Hargadon
UBS Financial Services
Min Kim
New Britain Museum of American Art
Virginia Lupi
New Hampshire State Council on the Arts
Karen Mittelman
Vermont Arts Council
Barbara Murphy
BBC Worldwide/Public Radio International
Chip Newell
NewHeight Group
Kristina Newman-Scott
BRIC Arts Media
Randall Rosenbaum
Rhode Island State Council on the Arts
Elizabeth Shapiro
Office of the Arts, Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development
Pamela Tatge
Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival
Edward Wendell
Finance
Marco Werman
WGBH/BBC/PRX
Lisa Wong
Harvard Medical School
Carrie Zaslow
Providence Revolving Fund
Edwige Charlot
Artist/Alliance of Artists Communities
Erinn King
Payden & Rygel
Madeline Sayet
Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 06/04/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.