Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA) has announced the launch of the Creative Communities Coalition for Guaranteed Income (CCCGI).

Convened by YBCA and led by six San Francisco arts and culture organizations dedicated to economic justice, CCCGI will implement an 18-month, $1.3 million guaranteed income program focused on San Francisco artists grappling with the harms of structural racism, displacement, and inequity exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Funded by Jack Dorsey’s #startsmall LLC and a gift from MacKenzie Scott, the initiative will be led by Black Freighter Press, the Chinese Culture Center of San Francisco (CCCSF), the Transgender District, Dance Mission Theater, Galeria de la Raza, and the San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Company (SFBATCO).

“This work is about demonstrating the immense impact that comes from artist-designed and -led sustainable economic investment models,” said YBCA director of artist investment Stephanie Imah. “Artists–including the brilliant community leaders driving this coalition work–are uniquely equipped to interrogate our hardest challenges with creativity and curiosity.” 

(Photo credit: Getty Images/valentinrussanov)