Rowena Lei

Research is an art. A soft craft. A quiet ritual. Not the sterile kind you’re taught in school—full of rigid referencing and bibliographies in 11-point font—but the kind where you sit hunched over your desk at dusk, reading something half-relevant, and stumble upon a sentence that makes your stomach drop. That’s the magic part.

To research is to... See more

culture has two definitions: (1) The prevailing beliefs, values and customs of a group; a group’s way of life. (2) A set of practices (including all forms of storytelling and art-making) that contain, transmit, or express ideas, values, habits and behaviors between individuals and groups. So culture is the sum total of a group of people’s... See more

Dominant narratives define and reinforce social norms — who is “us” and who is “them,” what is true and what is false, what is proper and what is improper, what can be done and what cannot be done. Narratives, whether dominant or alternative, can produce and reproduce injustice and inequity, or they can create possibilities for more equity,... See more

Our field is collaborative & cross-disciplinary. Like culture itself, our field is inherently cross-sector. We believe that the nonprofit world does not have an exclusive relationship with justice, but rather is a key partner along with artists, creators, and private sector expertise and institutions. We believe in the power of bringing together... See more

What is cultural strategy?

Cultural strategy is a field of practice that centers artists, storytellers, media makers and cultural influencers as agents of social change. Cultural strategy speaks to our broadest visions and highest hopes.