Operationalizing racial and social equity values in grantmaking involves challenging and addressing all dimensions of the process, from the application portal, to communication tools, to guidelines and requirements, a case study of the MAP Fund by Animating Democracy, a program of Americans for the Arts, finds. Funded by the Hemera Foundation, the report, Diving Into Racial Equity: The MAP Fund's Exploration (28 pages, PDF), examines MAP's efforts since 2015 to advance racial equity in its support for the performing arts, including an in-depth review of biases in its application portal, guidelines, applicant advisory supports, and adjudication processes, as well as the incorporation of Animating Democracy's Aesthetic Perspectives: Attributes of Excellence in Arts for Change framework over three grant cycles. The case study found that the eleven attributes outlined in the framework — which were developed by artists, funders, and evaluators in partnership with the Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Arts x Culture x Social Justice Network and include "communal meaning," "disruption," "cultural integrity," and "openness" — were effective in generating questions that led to a more nuanced understanding of MAP's review criteria, challenging individual preferences, and providing a shared language for discussing the aesthetic and social aspects of proposed projects. At the same time, the report warns against using the attributes as a checklist and notes that defining and measuring progress toward racial and social equity in grantmaking can lead to tensions around the collection of demographic data.