Mission

Rising Arts Leaders San Diego (RALSD) strives to provide programming and resources to emerging arts and culture administrators to build their leadership skills, improve their professional competence, enhance their career progression and keep abreast of new developments in the field.

Who We Are

Rising Arts Leaders San Diego was a program of The San Diego Foundation’s Arts & Culture Working Group, produced in partnership with the City of San Diego Commission for Arts and Culture and in affiliation with the Americans for the Arts Emerging Leaders Network. RALSD is fiscally sponsored by Media Arts Center San Diego and is part of an emergent network of up and coming arts leaders throughout California supported by the Center for Cultural Innovation. Originally funded through The James Irvine Foundation RALSD has received a grant from Center for Cultural Innovation / CAL Now Network to continue programming into 2020. There are currently four active networks statewide: San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Silicon Valley. Though each network is structured differently to reflect the nuances of its region, the networks meet in an effort to strengthen the state’s emerging leaders’ representation.

RALSD serves early and mid-career nonprofit arts and culture administrators with programs that support individual professional and leadership development.

RALSD Goals:

• To provide participants with leadership and professional training, including symposiums, seminars, workshops, mentorship programs and other learning opportunities.

• To enable participants to connect in person and online with peers and experienced arts professionals in structured and informal learning environments.

• To provide information and resources which will enhance the participants’ knowledge of current affairs in the field and other career development opportunities.

• To build the governance and infrastructure of the program to ensure its growth and sustainability into the future.

The programs and services provided by RALSD take a four-pronged approach to reaching these goals:

• Advocacy – We have been a vocal supporter of City funding for arts organizations in San Diego. We also support and elevate the voices and practices of local artists through Arts Fest and our Artist Toolbox interviews.

• Professional Development – We provide and inform our members of various leadership and professional development opportunities throughout the year. Formally, RALSD produces one such event per quarter. The fall quarter event is registered as a “Creative Conversation” through the Americans for the Arts Emerging Leaders Network in an effort to connect with Emerging Leaders across the nation.

• Networking – We provide informal networking opportunities through happy hours, mixers, and arts events on a monthly basis at various locations throughout San Diego.

• Grants – Twice a year, RALSD provides several “Quick Grants”, to individual Rising Arts Leaders members to fund professional development and leadership opportunities that will aid in their career growth.

RALSD is fiscally sponsored by

RALSD is generously funded by a grant from