Art & Business Council of Chicago

Our 2022 GOALS
#1: Increase the racial and ethnic diversity of content experts of 6 Learning Labs and 6 On BOARD sessions from 41% to 50%.

#2: Enhance volunteer corps with essential skills and cultural competency, recruiting 16 new volunteers and 5 new Team Leads, 40% who identify as POC; Volunteer orientation will offer 60 minutes (within the 3-hour volunteer orientation) addressing racism in the sector & identity politics.

#3: Increase the diversity of Chicago zip codes and/ or communites served, by adding 10 Arts Partners to our portfolio, specifically increasing the number from those operating in the West, South, Southwest, and Far Southeast sides of Chicago. We will accomplish this by 1) prioritizing BVA applications that: a) primarily serve those that have been historically excluded from capacity building programs and b) lend to larger sector-wide learning and; 2) Conducting monthly A&BC Annexes (July- December) at the following Cultural Centers (pending CPD staffing): Douglass Cultural Center/Fieldhouse – North Lawndale; Palmer Cultural Center/Fieldhouse - Roseland; Austin Town Hall Cultural Center/Fieldhouse - Austin; Hamilton Park Cultural Center/Fieldhouse - Englewood; South Shore Cultural Center/Fieldhouse – South Shore; and Marquette Cultural Center/Fieldhouse- Chicago Lawn.

#4: Increase racial and ethnic diversity and community representation of A&BC’s Board of Directors. Recognizing A&BC’s greatest opportunity to achieve internal racial equity is within its volunteer ranks (BVA & Board) versus professional personnel (at this time of reduced staffing). Currently A&BC’s Board is comprised of 9 individuals, 30% who identify as POC and 30% who represent the communites we serve. The A&BC Board will recruit three (3) new board members by the November 22, 2022 board meeting.

#5: Advance key and historic private sector relationships. Generally, corporate support pulls back during economic downturns. And during the pandemic A&BC did not present its annual luncheon fundraiser and consequently retained only two of its corporate partners, further highlighting the transactional nature of the relationship. In 2022, A&BC will increase its corporate partners portfolio from 2 to 8-10, through sponsorship or partnership, specifying the communities and clients we are serving and intend to serve and describe how A&BC’s work extends or complements existing private sector community investment strategy, that the creative economy and artists and not for profits are equivalent to small business growth.

The Arts & Business Council of Chicago (A&BC) began operations in Chicago in 1985 under the auspices of Business Volunteers for the Arts® which remains the core of its capacity building programming. A&BC’s programs focus on enhancing business acumen and developing leadership.

A&BC serves Chicagoans interested in giving back to their communities by providing voluntary consulting to small to mid-sized arts and culture not for profits and creative business of all disciplines, their staff and boards, prioritizing those that have been historically excluded from capacity building programs.

We accomplish this priority by committing to increasing our programs to serve creatives in all 77 of Chicago’s named communities, prioritizing historically excluded communities and organizations in the arts & culture landscape.

By focusing on small to mid-sized creative businesses A&BC acknowledges that limited human resources and specific business acumen hinders a business from becoming sustainable and thriving.

Our strategies to build the capacity include:
• Business Volunteers for the Arts® (BVA), a voluntary consulting program connecting skilled Chicagoans with arts, cultural, and creative communities in need of operational and management assistance
• Learning Labs, professional development & skill-build workshops to enhance management and leadership core competencies
• On BOARD®, unique nonprofit board leadership training program
• smARTscope®, a proprietary diagnostic tool that assesses the management core competencies of creative businesses

A&BC is at the heart of the intersection between Chicago’s arts and business communities and on the front lines of ensuring a thriving arts scene and a culturally rich Chicago.

Businesses, big and small, cultural or corporate, need a workforce that can respond to a complex, every-changing marketplace.

Every A&BC undertaking fosters professional and leadership development through an immersive community engagement that helps bring people together, build bridges, open conversation, and create understanding - three capacities that are essential to building a more equitable Chicago.

A&BC is Chicago's only organization with a mission to connect the culture and corporate communities, linking money and business expertise to community-level creative endeavors.

A&BC is structurally designed to act as a connector and encourage private sector investment within community.
A&BC’s position at this unique intersection creates the opportunity to develop prosperous communities, focusing on Main Street, with the support and collaboration of LaSalle Street.

A&BC harnesses the capacity of the private sector to build the capacity of the arts & culture sector through our corps of 450+ Business Volunteers for the Arts.

As 2020/21 were pandemic years, where creative businesses were focused on survival and not capacity building, comparisons below are to the prior two-year period (of 2018/19). “POC” (People of Color) represents people who identity as non-white or bi-racial.

LEARNING LABS:
o 12 workshops; 299 participants (+41%) Price reduced from $65 to $35, a loss of $8,970 yet a provision made to accommodate a financially struggling sector
o 17 Content Experts (41% POC)
“Our WTTW and WFMT Chief Development Officer Jill Britton attended your Learning Lab ‘It’s Not All About the Give/Get: A New Model for Assessing Board Contribution’. She has not stopped raving about what a fantastic workshop it was!” - Bridget Dehl, Executive Assistant to Jill Britton, WTTW/ WFMT

On BOARD:
o 16 sessions; 267 participants (+88%) Price reduced from $65 to $35, a loss of $8,010 yet a provision made to accommodate a financially struggling sector
o 17 Content Experts (41% POC)

“If you’ve ever thought about lending your talents as a board member to a nonprofit organization, I can’t recommend this program enough. Not only did A&BC's On BOARD give me the training I needed to be an impactful board member on Day One and a rich experience with the wonderful PRIDE FILMS AND PLAYS (not to mention fabulous memories and friends), but it gave me the confidence to know I could learn new skills. A few years later I have an MBA and a whole new career. Take the chance, give back, and you might be surprised what it gives you.” - Stephanie Simon

BUSINESS VOLUNTEERS FOR THE ARTS (BVA):
o Engaged 32 Unique Organizations (-13%), 38% POC
o Launched 21 Projects (-68%). Upon completion Arts Partners reported:
-- The BVA Team converted goals into an easily understandable work plan that maintained clear and achievable action plans. - 87% STRONGLY AGREE, 13% AGREE
-- The product delivered by the BVA Team was valuable and actionable - 100%
-- The BVA Project had the following effect on the organizations:
• Helped enhance leadership team's ability to make good decisions – 73%
• Helped improve systems that support operational efficiency – 73%
• Helped ongoing ability to build & sustain capacity without outside help – 67%
• Improved the alignment between programs/ activities and mission – 40%
o Engaged 102 volunteers (+21%); Valued at $266,000 (-107%) Upon completion Volunteers reported working on their BVA project:-- Helped them better understand the NFP/arts and culture sector's operating environment – 81%
o Trained 50 new volunteers (-20%), 38% POC (+6%)
EX: BVA Project- Marketing- Theatre Above the Law. Valued at $21,300. Cost to TAtL- $300
“Focusing on 1 issue for in depth yields more than a scattershot approach. We were overwhelmed with everything we needed to do to keep the doors open and this helped us to focus. We also learned a lot about our audience which is wider than we thought, and we can build on that.” Board President