THE YEAR-LONG ILI EXPERIENCE
The Intercultural Leadership Institute is a rigorous, year-long personal and leadership development experience created out of our shared commitment to pursue cultural equity and to support artists, culture bearers and other arts professionals as change-makers in their communities.
Applications to ILI are accepted from established and emerging artists, culture bearers and other arts professionals in various stages of career development. We welcome all who move with us throughout each ILI Year - and those who may join us on the path in the future. The ILI Origin StoryThe inspiration to create ILI came from many sources...
A prominent driver was our own experience as leaders within the arts and culture field who have participated in numerous professional development programs. Most of these provided important skills, connections and capacity for us and our organizations while also reinforcing dominant cultural norms that at times were out of sync with our commitment to cultural equity and to change-making in and with our communities. As we grew in our own leadership and built trust and understanding together over time, we developed a shared analysis of the need for a leadership program of, by and for the artists and culture bearers in our communities. In defining this collaborative program as an “Intercultural Leadership Institute,” we are making an important distinction. Cross-cultural approaches highlight the differences and similarities between two or more distinct cultures. Intercultural approaches invite exploration of our shared grooves of social memory, co-habitation and mutual accountability; they allow us to challenge dominant norms as well as honor, empower and find solidarity in the differences of our histories, traditions, identities, vocabularies and more. We believe an intercultural approach to change-making and developing leaders within the arts and culture field is critical to respond effectively to the significant shifts that are underway in nearly every facet of our society, politics, environment and economy at the local, national and global levels. We have created ILI to foster and support intercultural leaders throughout our communities, as well as to promote a shift in the broader arts and culture field toward greater intercultural awareness, resourcing and action. |
The Curriculum
The dynamic learning environment of ILI will cultivate an inclusive intercultural space to provide multiple generations of artists, culture bearers and other arts professionals the skills, support, knowledge, and agency to confidently respond to and initiate approaches to address complex cultural questions.
How We Work
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Why We Matter
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