3. Organizational Setup

Discover insights into staff composition, leadership structures, benefits offered, and challenges faced by staff members. 

A woman with a headress of roses poses on stage with her right hand outstretched
Artwork of a young girl with her head cradled in her hands wearing a headdress
Key Findings

Latinx/é arts and culture organizations mobilize a large and diverse human workforce, driven primarily by volunteers and board leadership. Across missions and disciplines, most organizations operate with limited full-time staff and rely heavily on volunteers for staffing support.

Key Findings

Latinx/é arts and culture organizations are largely comprised of Latinx/é individuals: 78% of staff within each staffing category identified as Latinx/é, whereas 88% of full-time staff and 82% of part-time staff identified as Latinx/é.

Key Findings

A substantial portion of Latinx/é arts and culture organizations are led by Latinx/é leaders, reflecting strong representation within the field.

Key Findings

Latinx/é arts and culture organizations tend to prioritize flexibility and basic paid time off benefits for full-time employees.

Key Findings

The data show that staffing challenges are widespread, structural, and persistent across budgets and disciplines, shaping how organizations operate and grow.

3.2 Leadership and Latinidad

The majority of Latinx/é arts and culture organizations (95%) reported that their executive leadership identifies as Latinx/é. Less than 5% reported that this was not the case. Similarly, the majority of Latinx/é organizations (96%) reported that their most senior leaders also identify as Latinx/é, with less than 4% of organizations reporting otherwise.

Explore the Data

Highlight

A substantial portion of Latinx/é arts and culture organizations are led by Latinx/é leaders, reflecting strong representation within the field.

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Artistic Disciplines

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Data Summary

  • Leaders in the selected filter have an average tenure of 13.67 years in Artistic Production organizations.
  • When asked, all organizations reported having on average 6.39 board members.
  • On average, all organizations reported having 4.91 board members.

Successes

  • 37.9% of organizations have solicited community feedback.
  • 34.7% of organizations have acted on the community feedback they have collected.

Opportunities

  • Leverage long-tenured leadership to formalize knowledge transfer through succession planning and leadership pipelines.

Challenges

  • 67.6% of organizations have not developed succession plans
  • 97.7% of organizations have not engaged in strategic planning.

Leader Tenure

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Primary Activity

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Financial Position

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Total Board Members

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Latinx/é Board Representation

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Image Credits

  • Image #1: CONTRA-TIEMPO, 2017 NALAC Fund for the Arts Organization Project Grantee
  • Image #2: Juan Hernandez, 2023 NALAC Fund for the Arts Grantee
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