GOLD2023

COOL CULTURE INC

aka Cool Culture   |   Brooklyn, NY   |  www.coolculture.org

Mission

Vision: Cool Culture envisions an equitable society that values, embraces and is enriched by all cultures. Mission: To amplify the voices of families and strengthen the power of historically marginalized communities through engagement with art and culture, both within cultural institutions and beyond. At the core of Cool Culture's work is the use of art and culture as a vehicle for transformation that engages our emotional, intellectual and imaginations. Cool Culture believes that art is a human right, a powerful means of self-expression, and a bridge that allows us to transcend boundaries between and across cultures to build community and to increase our capacity for dialogue and understanding.

Ruling year info

2003

Executive Director

Ms. Candice Anderson

Main address

80 Hanson Place Suite 605

Brooklyn, NY 11217 USA

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EIN

16-1636968

NTEE code info

Arts Education/Schools (A25)

Museum & Museum Activities (A50)

Kindergarten, Nursery Schools, Preschool, Early Admissions (B21)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Programs and results

What we aim to solve

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Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

Citywide Cultural Access Program

Provides 50,000 families in 450 Early Childhood Centers and Title 1 Department of Education schools with a Cool Culture Family Pass that offers families a year of unlimited, free admission for up to five people to our 90 New York City cultural institution partners.

Cool Culture offers our education partners Professional Development workshops and a wide variety of resources focused on family involvement through the arts, in addition to producing family events and multilingual educational materials for all 50,000 families.

Our events draw as many as 2,600 parents and children to a single co-created museum event, and annually, parents and children walk through the doors of our partner cultural institutions 185,000 times at no cost

Population(s) Served
Families
Ethnic and racial groups

Our new multi-year initiative, We Are All Curators, aims to leverage art and culture to counter dominant narratives and beliefs surrounding African, Latinx, Asian, Arab and Native American (ALAANA) families and families from low-income households. We Are All Curators will facilitate families’, educators’, and communities’ use of art and culture to build community, share their stories, challenge dominant narratives, and ultimately achieve social change.

The Initiative uses curation as a theme in both the traditional and broadest sense, from curation of objects in a museum or home, to families’ organization of experiences for their children and other loved ones, to choices about what we wear and eat to demystify curatorial practice and expand perceptions of who creates and exhibits art.

Population(s) Served
Families
Ethnic and racial groups

These programs bring art to communities including Harlem, Chinatown, Corona, Queens and Bedford Stuyvesant/Crown Heights in Brooklyn, building relationships between families, educators, and museum professionals who work together to develop tailored programming for children and families. Key to the success of the Intensive program is the Family Leaders component, which leverages adult caregivers’ leadership capacity. Family Leaders, as graduates of an 8-part training series, provide peer-to-peer outreach and support throughout the duration of the program.

Population(s) Served
Families
Ethnic and racial groups

Creates and implements a series of seminars that guide the next generation of museum professionals in developing participatory programming. Participants also build skills in soliciting feedback from historically marginalized families about their exhibitions and programming, and in advocating for change in their institutions. Click here to learn more about the Laboratory for New Audiences.

Population(s) Served
Artists and performers
Families

Where we work

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • 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, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

    We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time, It is difficult to identify actionable feedback

Financials

COOL CULTURE INC
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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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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COOL CULTURE INC

Board of directors
as of 03/08/2023
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Mr. Rob Krulak

Acme Projects, LLC

Edwina Meyers

NYC Children's Services

Dixie Ching

Google Education.com

Ahmed Yearwood

Y INTERACT

Samantha Gilbert

Ford Foundation

Jonathan Van Antwerpen

Henry Luce Foundation

Lynne Toye

New Jersey Arts & Culture Renewal Fund

Risa Meyer

Style Simple

Dr. Christopher John Godfrey

Pace University

Jared Cooper

LeagueApps

Cathy Elkies

Phillips Auction House

Risa Meyer

Style Simple

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • 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? Yes
  • 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? Not applicable
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 3/7/2023
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
Black/African American
Gender identity
Female

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

No data

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 03/07/2023

GuideStar 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

Data
  • We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
  • We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
  • 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 disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • 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 help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
  • 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.