Dorothy R. Santos

I’ve officially transitioned to the non-profit sector as the Community and Grants Manager for Gray Area Arts and Technology Theater. After graduating this past May, I had to make some major decisions about my life and career path. It was challenging. But it was necessary for me to be courageous and pave a new path for myself as a cultural worker. I’ve been freelancing for quite some time and already knew that I was working my way towards becoming a full time arts professional. But I honestly didn’t think I would get to where I am today.

As you can see in my profile picture above, I’m pretty ecstatic (although this photo was taken in 2012, it certainly captures my excitement and enthusiasm for life). But more important, the three other individuals pictured are my teammates. We have been given the task to research Cultural Equity during the Emerging Arts Professional fellowship. The fellowship will be 9 months. The entire cohort is comprised of 18 individuals from all over the Bay Area. We are assigned to different research areas, which include: 1) The Creative City, 2) Cultural Equity, 3) Arts & Enterprise, and 4) Regenerative Practices. My group will try and tackle the following:

You can learn more about the fellowship here. I highly encourage reading through the profiles of the individuals in my cohort. I can’t believe I get to work and research with this talented and brilliant group of cultural workers and producers. Amazing!