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55 Fellows Announced for U.S. Regional Arts Organization-Supported National Leaders of Color Fellowship
[Denver, CO] — Creative West is thrilled to announce the 2024-25 Leaders of Color Fellowship awardees from the western region, recognizing outstanding individuals who are shaping the future of the arts through their innovative leadership and vision. This fellowship, administered in collaboration with five other US Regional Arts Organizations (USRAOs), seeks to empower and connect leaders of color across the nation.
The fellowship provides a unique platform for cohorts to engage in meaningful conversations and exchange ideas both nationally and regionally. Over the next six months, participants will collaborate in six facilitator-led sessions designed to enhance their leadership skills, alongside community-building sessions that foster collaboration and support among peers.
The Leaders of Color Fellowship is more than just an accolade — it is a commitment to nurturing the next generation of arts leaders who will advance diversity, equity, and inclusion within the arts community. Each awardee has demonstrated a profound ability to inspire change and contribute to their respective fields with creativity and resilience.
“The National Leaders of Color Fellowship Program embodies the transformative power of collective leadership and innovation,” said Anika Tené, Director of Grants, Awards and Programs at Creative West. “The fellows are not just shaping the future of the arts — they are actively redefining what equity, inclusion, and creativity look like in our communities. At Creative West, we are honored to support this vibrant cohort along with our USRAO colleagues, providing tools and connections to amplify their impact toward a more just and inspired creative sector.”
The fellowship aims to cultivate connections that transcend regional boundaries, building a supportive network of leaders committed to advancing the cultural landscape of arts and culture.
About Creative West (formerly WESTAF)
Creative West is a nonprofit U.S. Regional Arts Organization that builds equitable technology, funding, advocacy, and policy systems to generate creative capacity in the West and beyond. By building systems that change systems, the organization advances equity, justice, and regenerative action—seeing these values as essential as creativity itself. Creative West offers direct, practical support to arts agencies, artists, culture bearers, and creative organizations, aiming to work distributively in support of community-defined goals. Its direct-service work includes funding, programming, leadership development, research, advocacy, technology, and convening to move arts and cultural policy forward.
About the U.S. Regional Arts Organizations
The United States Regional Arts Organizations (USRAOs) strengthen and support arts, culture, and creativity in their individual regions as well as across the nation. They serve the nation’s artists, arts and culture organizations, and creative communities with programs that reflect and celebrate the diversity of the field in which they work. They partner with the National Endowment for the Arts, state arts agencies, individuals, and other public and private funders to develop and deliver programs, services, and products that advance arts and creativity. Learn more at www.usregionalarts.org.
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