Cultural equity is a significant charge for every arts organization to strive for in their work. The choral community that I work in is committed to expanding its diversity, including language, ethnicity, race, and religion, as well as crosscutting characteristics such as gender, sexual orientation, and range of ability and age. Choruses are building community from the inside out, focusing on the rehearsal room as a first step to building a healthy and vibrant arts organization that can create a feeling of community for its audiences and beyond.

But where does cultural equity begin in a field that attempts to be intentionally inclusive, rather than unintentionally exclusive?

I serve on many grant panels across the country, adjudicating project and operating support from various state and local government funders to private foundations. Arts organizations, including choral groups, are highlighting their engagement strategies to broaden and diversify participants and audiences. They list stats, figures, and great ideas to showcase that they are indeed open to cultural equity and are putting in the effort to prove it. However, the reach to new audiences in the community is not growing and participation numbers stay flat. Their work and good intentions should be applauded; however, the item review panels highlight is that the boards of directors of these organizations are often not reflective of the communities they are serving or wish they were serving. This can take the wind out of the good work they are trying to do in this space and could be a hindrance when building relationships with new communities.

Cultural equity has to start with an arts organization's board and move from there into the other aspects of its mission and programming. We have been talking about "the new normal" and "building a 21st-century agenda" based on the changing demographics and world around us for past decade. It's time to stop talking and start doing. Every board of directors needs to think about a cultural equity statement and what it means to them and their organization. It's basic community development.

We can't have a one size fits all model, conversation, or strategy, but arts leaders need to know where their organizations are falling short of best practices. Boards already do self-assessments and seek professional help to increase their organizations' effectiveness in various areas of nonprofit management. They need to add equity, access, and diversity to the areas being evaluated. It's not an easy task, and every arts organization that wants to support cultural equity should be commended. However, we are at a place where talking and strategizing is no longer enough. We need to put action-oriented plans into place.

This work isn't going to happen overnight. But over time, as boards become proactive about building actionable steps for their organizations, the arts will serve an equitable population.