S4:E9 From New Haven with love… Adriane Jefferson in conversation with Stephanie Fortunato
Guest
Adriane Jefferson
In conversation with
Stephanie Fortunato
Our host, Stephanie Fortunato speaks to Adriane Jefferson, Director of Cultural Affairs for the City of New Haven. They discuss cultural equity planning at a city level, the fundamental shifts it has facilitated for New Haven, as well as the challenges and opportunities of creating a living and actionable plan to create a more equitable and more culturally diverse ecosystem, written for and by the people.
Date of Recording
29 July 2024
Date of Publication
29 August 2024
[00:00:00]
Adriane Jefferson: I am the girl who shouldn't be here, essentially. Shouldn't have made it this far. Right. I am that, and the arts is the thing that saved my life. So I come from it in a way that it's really passionate and in a way where I'm really like convinced, that we can do so much with the arts that can really change the trajectory of our world.
[00:00:18] [THEME MUSIC]
[00:00:24]
Stephanie Fortunato: Hello, and welcome to The Three Bells. I’m your host Stephanie Fortunato, Director of Special Projects for GCDN.
My guest today is Adriane Jefferson, a leading U.S. voice on cultural equity and anti- racism. As the Director of Cultural Affairs for the City of New Haven, and Executive Director of New Haven Festivals, Inc., Adriane’s work sits squarely at the busy, and sometimes congested intersections of cultural and urban life that we so love to explore on The Three Bells.
This podcast is one of a series brought to you by AEA Consulting for the Global Cultural Districts Network. The series and supporting materials can be found at www.thethreebells.net. If you like our content, please subscribe. It helps others find us.
Adriane Jefferson's interest in the arts began at a young age, and she was encouraged by her middle school teachers to study the arts. This led her to undergraduate studies at Florida Memorial University in popular music. From there, she found a career in nonprofit arts administration, eventually finding her way to the public sector, working at the state's arts agency, where she developed an expertise in creative workforce development and championed their READI arts initiative.
READI is an acronym for Relevance, Equitable, Accessible, Diverse, Inclusive – a framework to test and develop READI programmes, policies, and initiatives at the statewide level. This work got the attention of many, including the mayor for the City of New Haven.
In early 2020, just weeks before the lockdown protocols took root, Adriane was hired to lead the city's Office of Cultural Affairs. Adriane was primed to take on cultural equity planning for the mayor and her New Haven constituents just as the formidable task of managing the global pandemic called every person into service in new ways. We all remember how the creative sector was upended alongside the livelihoods of creatives, and how this disproportionately impacted historically marginalised groups, including individuals who identify as BIPOC, as well as women, elders, and caregivers.
Adriane’s knowledge of music and entertainment industries was particularly useful during this time. Likewise, the leadership she was able to bring to bear in issues of racial justice became central to the city's emergency response, and continues to provide an essential foundation of support for the people who live, work, and visit New Haven.
Adriane and the local arts agency's small and mighty team leaped into action, responding not just to the challenges in the fields, but bringing innovation and creativity to wider concerns. All the while, they never paused the cultural equity planning that they were doing, convening stakeholders to publish an ambitious plan in 2022. The intro to the plan on the city's webpage says, ‘The New Haven Cultural Equity Plan is a collection of ideas, stories, questions, and practices that we can all use to manifest cultural equity in our lives and weave it into our systems.’ The document includes a list of action items for the city and other cultural leaders in our communities.
It is not a complete or finished document. It is the beginning of a conversation we must continue having with one another, forever. The responsibility of creating an equitable future for New Haven does not live with any single person. Instead, we each have work to do as we move toward this vision together.
I love this language and the articulation of intent. And I can't think of a better opening to welcome Adriane.
Hello, Adriane!
[00:03:51]
Adriane Jefferson: Oh my gosh! Hello. (laughs)
Stephanie Fortunato: (laughs)
Adriane Jefferson: That was like the most incredible opening ever? And I'm like, I did not expect that type of opening. And I'm like, I need you with me everywhere I go where I need to be introduced. That was fabulous!
External Links
About Our Guests
Adriane V. Jefferson is an award-winning Cultural Equity Leader who has worked professionally in the Arts & Culture sector for over 19 years. As the Director of Cultural Affairs for the City of New Haven and the Executive Director of New Haven Festivals Inc. in Connecticut, she has spearheaded several significant initiatives such as The Unapologetically Radical Conference, the City of New Haven’s inaugural Black Wall Street festival, and the first Cultural Equity Plan in the State of Connecticut. +
