Now, it’s time for an update.
As we’ve navigated this transition, our north star has been living into our mission and values. We’ve tried to set down ego, scarcity thinking, and the impulse to preserve things as they have been. We’ve waded through countless possibilities and unknowns, centering ourselves again and again in what’s important, meaningful, and ours to do.
Today, we have big news on what that means for two of our core programs. We also want to share a bit more about what we’ve been up to, and what’s in store.
As for the future of NAS in 2027 and beyond, that story is still unfolding. We’ve been putting first things first in focusing on the below, and finding our way forward one aligned decision at a time.
- Finding New Homes for NAS Programs:
Our constraints as a private foundation mean we can’t continue running programs as we have been into the future. But that doesn’t mean our programs can’t live on. We are thrilled to share that two of our programs are going on to new adventures outside of NAS. Here are the details:- •Creative Community Fellows is becoming a program of Fractured Atlas
Creative Community Fellows exists to support innovators and entrepreneurs working at the intersection of culture and community change. Starting in 2014 as a national program, and then evolving into a regional one, it has been a core NAS offering for over a decade. Participants often describe the experience as transformational, supporting them in cultivating deep relationships, learning new skills, fostering new ways of thinking and doing, and expanding what they believe to be possible. After over a decade of running this program with such powerful impact, we feel it’s ready to grow and thrive outside of NAS.
Enter Fractured Atlas: an organization dedicated to helping individual artists and arts organizations at every level of the cultural ecosystem, and a longtime NAS collaborator and friend. Fractured Atlas has decided – based on feedback from their members – to invest in programming that builds both relationships and capacity in our field. This makes Creative Community Fellows a natural fit for their organizational priorities. But it’s not just the strategic fit that makes this work. It’s that we know them: we’ve participated in one another’s programming over the years, and we trust and respect them. That combination is what makes them the right home for Creative Community Fellows.
So, here’s what’s happening. Starting in 2027, Creative Community Fellows will become a program of Fractured Atlas. And it’s not the only thing moving there. Sunny Widmann will become Fractured Atlas’s Chief Program Strategy Officer in 2027, and among her new responsibilities will be ongoing leadership of this program, providing continuity, commitment, and a vision for the future of what we have built. And Mariah Cesena will also be joining the Fractured Atlas team as Community Specialist, continuing her work on the program while growing in new areas as well. Our longtime New England funder – the Barr Foundation – has already committed to a generous grant to Fractured Atlas to continue the program’s deep work in that region (with both alumni and new cohorts). Sunny, Mariah, and the Fractured Atlas team have exciting plans in store, and we can’t wait to cheer them on as they do great things together.
Want to learn more? Read the press release about this transition.
Interested in learning more about Fractured Atlas? Check out their Instagram, blog, and website.
• Coaching is becoming an independent (fiscally sponsored) initiative
NAS Coaching was a response to a need. We saw back in the 2010s that coaching could help unlock the potential of individuals, organizations, and communities, but our field lacked coaches with lived experience in arts and culture and financially accessible pricing. So we offered the first coach-training program for arts and culture leaders and built a first of its kind roster of coaches committed to serving our field. We offered coaching on a sliding scale to expand financial access, worked with funders to make coaching available at no cost to grantees, and created coach-facilitated Peer Exchange Groups so leaders can learn with and from one another.So far, our coaching offerings have served hundreds of leaders in the field, providing essential spaces for support, reflection, accountability, connection, and so much more. There is great potential in this offering, and it too is ready for a life of its own.
Over the coming months, our coaching program will begin separating from NAS and into its own mission-driven entity. It’ll have a new name and a fiscal sponsor, but the people that make it possible will all be there helping it to thrive. These are: our incredible coaches, our talented team of coach-consultants running the program (Alicia Sutton, Joan Vorderbruggen, and Rachel Ishofsky), and our thoughtful and committed funding partners (shoutout to the Barr and Fred and Barbara Erb Family Foundations). We’re deeply excited for all that’s in store and look forward to sharing more soon.
2. Investing in Our Community
We shared back in March and many times since that as we face uncertainty ahead, our top priority is investing in you, the members of this community. And we’ve done that, bringing nearly 100 of you to join us at AFTACON in Albuquerque, offering $100,000 in Community Connection Grants, hosting on land and online reunions for most of our programs, offering coach-facilitated Peer Exchange Groups (PEGs) to our entire community, and more. Our goal was to create opportunities for you all to resource yourselves and reconnect with one another, and it’s been a joy to see such vibrancy in the community this year.3. Sharing Learnings Towards Change
Lastly, our work has taught us lessons that are important to share. We’ve learned a great deal about the conditions leaders need to effectively work towards systems change both inside their organizations and in the communities they serve. We’ve learned not just what it takes to build and sustain meaningful relationships among leaders in our field, but how those relationships can create cascading effects well beyond the individuals involved. And we’ve learned about how funders can help create the conditions for arts and culture leaders to thrive.We are working on taking years of data and learnings from across our programs and sharing them in ways we hope will influence how our sector thinks about, designs, and funds support for leaders. We’re heading to Grantmakers in the Arts later this month to share some of these lessons with funders, and are working to bring more of this learning online so it can be shared with all of you.
That’s the news for now.
We’re thrilled that two of our core programs will continue on to meaningful futures and impact outside of NAS, that so many of y’all have participated in our offerings this year, and that we get to leverage what we’ve learned to hopefully influence change in our field.
As for the uncertainty ahead…well…we know we’re not the only ones navigating unfamiliar terrain these days. So we continue to keep showing up with as much vision, clarity, and commitment to our values as we can. We’ll keep sharing updates and opportunities in our newsletter, and will keep you posted as we’re able about our plans.
In gratitude,
The NAS Team
NAS team setting our 2026 intentions
Now, it’s time for an update.
As we’ve navigated this transition, our north star has been living into our mission and values. We’ve tried to set down ego, scarcity thinking, and the impulse to preserve things as they have been. We’ve waded through countless possibilities and unknowns, centering ourselves again and again in what’s important, meaningful, and ours to do.
Today, we have big news on what that means for two of our core programs. We also want to share a bit more about what we’ve been up to, and what’s in store.
As for the future of NAS in 2027 and beyond, that story is still unfolding. We’ve been putting first things first in focusing on the below, and finding our way forward one aligned decision at a time.
- Finding New Homes for NAS Programs:
Our constraints as a private foundation mean we can’t continue running programs as we have been into the future. But that doesn’t mean our programs can’t live on. We are thrilled to share that two of our programs are going on to new adventures outside of NAS. Here are the details:- • Creative Community Fellows is becoming a program of Fractured Atlas
Creative Community Fellows exists to support innovators and entrepreneurs working at the intersection of culture and community change. Starting in 2014 as a national program, and then evolving into a regional one, it has been a core NAS offering for over a decade. Participants often describe the experience as transformational, supporting them in cultivating deep relationships, learning new skills, fostering new ways of thinking and doing, and expanding what they believe to be possible. After over a decade of running this program with such powerful impact, we feel it’s ready to grow and thrive outside of NAS.Enter Fractured Atlas: an organization dedicated to helping individual artists and arts organizations at every level of the cultural ecosystem, and a longtime NAS collaborator and friend. Fractured Atlas has decided – based on feedback from their members – to invest in programming that builds both relationships and capacity in our field. This makes Creative Community Fellows a natural fit for their organizational priorities. But it’s not just the strategic fit that makes this work. It’s that we know them: we’ve participated in one another’s programming over the years, and we trust and respect them. That combination is what makes them the right home for Creative Community Fellows.
So, here’s what’s happening. Starting in 2027, Creative Community Fellows will become a program of Fractured Atlas. And it’s not the only thing moving there. Sunny Widmann will become Fractured Atlas’s Chief Program Strategy Officer in 2027, and among her new responsibilities will be ongoing leadership of this program, providing continuity, commitment, and a vision for the future of what we have built. And Mariah Cesena will also be joining the Fractured Atlas team as Community Specialist, continuing her work on the program while growing in new areas as well. Our longtime New England funder – the Barr Foundation – has already committed to a generous grant to Fractured Atlas to continue the program’s deep work in that region (with both alumni and new cohorts). Sunny, Mariah, and the Fractured Atlas team have exciting plans in store, and we can’t wait to cheer them on as they do great things together.
Want to learn more? Read the press release about this transition.
Interested in learning more about Fractured Atlas? Check out their Instagram, blog, and website.
• Coaching is becoming an independent (fiscally sponsored) initiative
NAS Coaching was a response to a need. We saw back in the 2010s that coaching could help unlock the potential of individuals, organizations, and communities, but our field lacked coaches with lived experience in arts and culture and financially accessible pricing. So we offered the first coach-training program for arts and culture leaders and built a first of its kind roster of coaches committed to serving our field. We offered coaching on a sliding scale to expand financial access, worked with funders to make coaching available at no cost to grantees, and created coach-facilitated Peer Exchange Groups so leaders can learn with and from one another.So far, our coaching offerings have served hundreds of leaders in the field, providing essential spaces for support, reflection, accountability, connection, and so much more. There is great potential in this offering, and it too is ready for a life of its own.
Over the coming months, our coaching program will begin separating from NAS and into its own mission-driven entity. It’ll have a new name and a fiscal sponsor, but the people that make it possible will all be there helping it to thrive. These are: our incredible coaches, our talented team of coach-consultants running the program (Alicia Sutton, Joan Vorderbruggen, and Rachel Ishofsky), and our thoughtful and committed funding partners (shoutout to the Barr and Fred and Barbara Erb Family Foundations). We’re deeply excited for all that’s in store and look forward to sharing more soon.
2. Investing in Our Community
We shared back in March and many times since that as we face uncertainty ahead, our top priority is investing in you, the members of this community. And we’ve done that, bringing nearly 100 of you to join us at AFTACON in Albuquerque, offering $100,000 in Community Connection Grants, hosting on land and online reunions for most of our programs, offering coach-facilitated Peer Exchange Groups (PEGs) to our entire community, and more. Our goal was to create opportunities for you all to resource yourselves and reconnect with one another, and it’s been a joy to see such vibrancy in the community this year.3. Sharing Learnings Towards Change
Lastly, our work has taught us lessons that are important to share. We’ve learned a great deal about the conditions leaders need to effectively work towards systems change both inside their organizations and in the communities they serve. We’ve learned not just what it takes to build and sustain meaningful relationships among leaders in our field, but how those relationships can create cascading effects well beyond the individuals involved. And we’ve learned about how funders can help create the conditions for arts and culture leaders to thrive.We are working on taking years of data and learnings from across our programs and sharing them in ways we hope will influence how our sector thinks about, designs, and funds support for leaders. We’re heading to Grantmakers in the Arts later this month to share some of these lessons with funders, and are working to bring more of this learning online so it can be shared with all of you.
That’s the news for now.
We’re thrilled that two of our core programs will continue on to meaningful futures and impact outside of NAS, that so many of y’all have participated in our offerings this year, and that we get to leverage what we’ve learned to hopefully influence change in our field.
As for the uncertainty ahead…well…we know we’re not the only ones navigating unfamiliar terrain these days. So we continue to keep showing up with as much vision, clarity, and commitment to our values as we can. We’ll keep sharing updates and opportunities in our newsletter, and will keep you posted as we’re able about our plans.
In gratitude,
The NAS Team
