Strengthening the Foundation Program for the Creative Commonwealth Cohort

In 2017, the Barr Foundation identified a group of five forward-thinking community foundations throughout the state of Massachusetts with the goal of activating “on-the-ground partnerships among arts organizations, artists and community foundations to increase the cultural vitality in communities across Massachusetts.”  This group, the Creative Commonwealth Cohort (CCW) consists of the following community foundations: Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, Community Foundation of Southeastern Massachusetts, Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, Essex County Community Foundation, and Greater Worcester Community Foundation.

Working with the Barr Foundation and CCW members, Maren Brown Associates created the Strengthening the Foundation program. The program included four components customized to respond to the CCW’s evolving needs in implementing their Barr-funded projects: (1) individualized consulting services, (2) small peer sessions that provide for information exchange about common implementation projects or topics (such as effective arts and culture capacity building strategies), (3) large group gatherings focused on topics of common interest (as identified by cohort members), and (4) supplemental funding to help each community foundation to fully implement their projects.