Get to Know: The WCE
Many independent artists face challenges such as limited access to resources, support systems, and consistent bookings, making it extremely difficult for them to sustain their work. The Women’s Coalition for Empowerment, Inc., a WOMEN’S WAY General Operating Fund grantee*, exists to bridge the gap between art and commerce for local creatives. Read along as we talk to Shekhinah B., the Executive Director of The WCE, and learn more about how the Coalition is transforming the creative economy.
Following our commitment to equity in grant-making and in direct response to input from our community partners, WOMEN’S WAY launched the General Operating Fund in 2022 to provide unrestricted, 2-year grants to organizations primarily serving women, girls, and/or the gender-expansive community. You can learn more about the grant program here.
Tell us a bit about yourself and your organization.
My name is Shekhinah. I’m the Executive Director of the Women’s Coalition for Empowerment, Inc. We’re a micro 501C3 organization that primarily works in the arts and culture sector, providing high-quality opportunities to low-moderate income independent creatives in the Greater Philadelphia region! We partner with different arts institutions and dedicate approximately 50% of our revenues back into the pockets of independent creatives in the region. We’re improving and enhancing the creative economy one gig at a time by merging the gap between art and commerce.
What does a week as the Executive Director of The Women’s Coalition for Empowerment look like for you?
Oh, lots of Zoom meetings because we’re one of the first remote-based nonprofit entities not to have a brick-and-mortar space… So a day for me is constantly working on contracts, contacting artists, applying for funding opportunities, negotiating deals with spaces to partner with, looking for sponsors, holding sponsorship meetings, marketing on social media, and revamping the Art Economic Empowerment curriculum to make it even more dynamic and up-to-date, because, yes, there’s that step of starting the business, but then there’s that merging the gap between art and commerce where artists are like ‘okay, there have to be other ways that I can make money and not just using the talent’.
[I’m] teaching [artists] how to search and secure and execute programming opportunities and grants that are available. I’m always looking for the funding that I feel best fits our needs without conflicts of interest.
Can you tell us about the mission and vision of your organization, and how you work towards achieving them?
The vision of The WCE is to create a thriving, creative sector, where local independent artists can have a sustainable long-term career that’s profitable for them [so as not] to feel as though they need to do four or five jobs or intermittent job opportunities, because the great opportunities are few and far between.
We encourage entrepreneurship. We do so through our art economic empowerment curriculum. This is a workbook that provides educational context to artists and creatives for free. We show them how to start their businesses, from the Pennsylvania perspective, going through the Pennsylvania Department of State, organizing properly, and getting the appropriate insurance(s) to be eligible to have access to paid contracts that are consistent, because you need insurance, you need to have business accounts, and you need to understand how to do your taxes. We’re encouraging artists to utilize their talents and make them into profitable enterprises.
What inspired the founding of your organization, and what are some milestones you’ve achieved since then?
Can I speak freely, please? Being a struggling artist and wanting to dispel that narrative! I thought, if I was just more talented, if I worked harder (and I’m using hard quotes), “worked harder” then that would have solved my problems. I realized I needed to be more intelligent with my approach, diversify my revenue stream options, and figure out what I am capable of doing. [ I recognized] we can’t continue the status quo of accepting the low pay and poor, unfair practices. And we need to make those changes. So I got together with a collective of women and we talked about what the issues are, and then began becoming solution-oriented. Now, we’re not reliant on the opportunities that are given to us, we literally create them.
“[ I recognized] we can’t continue the status quo of accepting the low pay and poor, unfair practices. And we need to make those changes. So, I got together with a collective of women and we talked about what the issues are, and then began becoming solution-oriented. Now, we’re not reliant on the opportunities that are given to us, we literally create them.”
We went to Cuba in 2019. Pre-pandemic, we were on a path to doing more international performances that some of the creatives didn’t think were possible unless they were aligned with some pseudo-celebrity or major influencer. We showed them that there’s a way to get funded to go overseas to have cultural exchanges, expand their work beyond their areas, and reach diverse audiences in a way that’s affordable and financially intelligent.
Can you describe for me a specific goal you’ve set for this year?
Absolutely.
A lot of community-based organizations that are Black-led, and often centered around Black and Brown communities, typically don’t last long as nonprofits. They typically have a three-year shelf life. We’ve been in existence since 2010. We’ve been in compliance at the state, municipal, and federal levels, [and] we finally transitioned from the short form 990 postcard to now the 990-EZ. We hit a six-figure mark and we’re hoping to hit that seven-figure mark!
What’s the best way supporters of the gender justice community can assist you on your journey?
[Supporters can] provide opportunities for referrals within [their] network to other institutions. I noticed that there isn’t a wide range of talent representation visible in [certain] spaces. Especially[with] us being non-union. It wasn’t by design, it’s just the reality — the union is not reflective of our demographic. Our demographic is not highly sought after or provided with consistent work opportunities through the unions, and please read their bylaws.
Although you may see some Black and Brown faces, when we think about the inception, the cultural inception of the union, [it] is reflective predominantly of white, classical, male artists, classically trained, who have gone to conservatories, and that have gone to arts universities. That’s not always [reflective of] us with God-given talent. We are also working creatives who have just as much talent and work ethic as the next person, but we don’t always get the same level of opportunity or level of pay.
How has the WOMEN’S WAY General Operating Fund helped to expand The WCE’s impact in the community?
Year one [of the General Operating Fund] was when we were in the inception stages of planning the Juneteenth Wine Arts Festival. It took a while. I think once people saw that we were grant recipients it almost gave us credibility in certain spaces and places. They were like, ‘Oh yeah, You’re with WOMEN’S WAY’- ‘Yes!’
Also, using a portion of the funds to contribute back to the individual artists that we work with is a big deal! We were able to not just [do] one-off relationships, but [provide] repeated opportunities for artists so that they don’t just feel like ‘Oh, you just hired us one time, and then there’s nothing else’. We are now able to use additional funds to have repeated opportunities for artists in different spaces where they haven’t been before.
Build for me the connection between your organization and gender/racial equity.
Absolutely. First, when we speak about women in the arts and culture sector, especially being a vocalist, we are at the bottom of the totem pole in terms of pay, business opportunities, and value. So being a vocalist, I often was the last person to be considered to be paid. It was always the keyboardist, the drummer, the guitar player, the bass player, you know, everyone else except me. They’re like ‘oh, well, you know, we didn’t have enough in the budget for you, but you know, this is exposure and a great “opportunity”’. And after a while, I got sick of that. I started demanding to receive pay up front, and then all of a sudden, I was called a diva or ungrateful or you’re aggressive because you were being direct about the value of the hours and what is fair compensation for each opportunity.
Secondly, women are often perceived in the music community as promiscuous, or so accessible to the point where it’s invasive. We often have to put up barriers or defenses in order to have safe spaces. Especially being a woman as a creative cultural producer, AKA a promoter or curator, there is a difference in the respect that is extended. When you’re hiring male counterparts to be subcontractors under you, the respect factor is often not there… surprisingly, I encounter disrespect from other women who are very much drinking the Kool-Aid of the patriarchy. They do not believe in women’s leadership and rarely want to see women in power. ‘Well, who’s the man telling you this?’ they’d ask. There has to be a man telling you this for us to believe it and accept it. I just want cooperation from all parties involved, simply because I am qualified to execute my role with excellence.
What new projects or opportunities do you see on the horizon for your organization in 2024?
We want to consider pursuing international opportunities again. We want to just make sure that it is safe and that it makes sense and it’s feasible for us to get a team over to do it [again].
We all would like to expand upon the Juneteenth Wine Arts Festival. Because of our partnerships with the Black wineries, we’d like to do events that are pop-ups where we are enhancing the visibility of Black wineries and Black adult beverage companies as well, along with our arts and culture community, because Black wineries make up less than 1% in the country. We want to support our brothers and sisters in the Black adult beverage industry as well because adult beverages and arts and culture kind of go hand in hand. You have culture, you have food, you have wine. So we found a way to kind of collectively work together and enhance our opportunities.
