Who We Are
Connecting Artists & Activists for Political Engagement
Our Mission
Cultural Engagement Lab aims to ignite change by creating compelling campaigns powered by BIPOC artists to foster a more just, equitable world. We seek to advance the wide-scale integration of cultural strategy as a core component of advocacy and electoral efforts, centering initiatives that engage and inspire multi-racial coalitions.
Backstory
The Cultural Engagement Lab (CEL) is the 501(c)4 action arm of The Center for Cultural Power, which evolved from the Citizen Engagement Lab, an early incubator of cutting-edge digital strategy, and an accelerator where Color of Change, Ultraviolet, CoWorker.org, and more experimented and proved the case for digital organizing in the era following the 2008 election.
With a decade-long track record of bringing new tools and innovation to social movements, and with new leadership and an expanded team, Cultural Engagement Lab is poised to support a wide-scale integration of cultural strategy as a core component of any strong political campaign long-term, especially those centering young people and people of color.
As the electoral engagement infrastructure has developed, strong grassroots organizations have emerged in most key states, and a handful of national groups with digital communications strategies distribute content. Still, there needs to be more creative cultural content that speaks to target communities. Many firms still prioritize and best understand TV ads, but according to CIRCLE, 28% of young people reported finding out about the 2018 election only through social media. We need authentic, solid content creation that can compete in digital spaces to meet young people where they are.
The Cultural Engagement Lab has a strong network of seasoned artists and creatives from impacted communities who create compelling and authentic designs, and who are hungry for a way to lend their storytelling talent and platform to meaningful engagement. Artists are usually looped into electoral work only transactionally - as spokespeople or for PSAs - rather than in meaningful ways that tap into their unparalleled storytelling abilities.
Art and culture are powerful engines for political and civic engagement, especially when meeting people where they are - engaging with culture online and in person. When campaigns have authentic and compelling storytellers, they can increase turnout in the short term and lay the groundwork for new narratives to take hold, making it more possible for policy change in the long term. It is time for progressive campaigns - especially those trying to reach young people - to involve artists at a much deeper level who can breathe life, hope, and representation into our political efforts. The artists of color in our network create content that naturally engages their peers - young, diverse people who we need to be engaged politically and to usher in the new cultural norms we seek.
Leadership
Aisha Goss (she/her) joined The Center for Cultural Power as Chief Development Officer in January of 2022. For more than 20 years, Aisha has served as a fundraising and development professional to a variety of non-profit organizations. Her expertise has aided multiple organizations in building sustainable development processes and has reached more than $15 million in annual funding goals. Aisha began her development career at the National Lesbian and Gay Journalist Association. Additionally, she was formerly the Deputy Director of the Secular Coalition for America. Originally from Atlanta, Georgia, Aisha received her B.S. in Communications from Howard University in Washington, D.C. She is an avid reader, crafter, and bourbon whiskey collector and enthusiast.
Alexis R. Posey is a social justice advocate with nearly fifteen years of experience in political strategy and advocacy. Alexis has worked on multiple issue areas, identifying the intersections between drug policy, HIV/AIDS, poverty, reproductive justice, and criminalization through a liberation lens. Alexis enjoys building community with Black women and people of color of all experiences through conversation, food, dance, and karaoke.
Krystle (she/her) is an imaginative and inventive self-starter whose passion is strategic partnership, designing and planning for programs that ignite change and amplify stories. She is experienced in helping to develop and cultivate creative portfolios, experiential activations and engagement strategies that promote joy or empower those historically dis-invested and marginalized. Her analytical lens, imagination and desire to contribute to society have led her to show up as a visionary and thought leader with innovative ideas and ability to cultivate relationships and see possibility everywhere Krystle’s experience developing systems to strategically manage-community informed events, campaigns, partnerships, impact strategies and neighborhood health portfolios has allowed her to break silos, amplify stories of those historically marginalized, learn, and guide teams with generosity of spirit and strength of conviction. A strategic thinker, Krystle has displayed an ability to translate and manage both qualitative and quantitative business and creative goals; while considering capacity planning, process, systems, people, goals, objectives and KPIs. In her free time she designs & curates eclectic pieces that are a nod to her NYC, Black and Afro Caribbean culture, acts as an event stylist and planner, is DIY crafter and is a ginger and Hibiscus lover.
Tara Dorabji (she/her) is a daughter of migrants, writer, mother, filmmaker, and co-founder & Vice President at The Center for Cultural Power, a home for artists and activists. She was on the founding Design Team for the Constellations Culture Change Fund & Initiatives and a co-author of Building Narratives of Joy. Her creative work focuses on themes of militarization, family relationships and generational love. Her debut novel, Fire, is forthcoming from Simon and Schuster in 2025. Her publications include Al Jazeera, The Chicago Quarterly, Huizache, and acclaimed anthologies including: Good Girls Marry Doctors & All the Women in My Family Sing. She received a 2019 & 2021 Arts Commission from the San Francisco Arts Commission for her writing and documentaries on Kashmir, one of the world’s most militarized zones. Her award-winning film, Here Still, was screened at over a dozen film festivals throughout Asia and the USA, including the Jaipur International Film Festival. Awards include Asia’s Best Independent Documentary Film at the All Asia Independent Film Festival 2020 & Best Short Documentary at the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival. She serves on the Advisory Board for Voices of Our Nations Arts Foundation. Her career is dedicated to amplifying stories that are often found at the margins. She served as the Development and Communications Director at Youth Speaks, Co-Deputy Director at Streetside Stories and Program Development Director at GreatSchools.
Favianna Rodriguez is the co-founder and President of The Center for Cultural Power, a national organization investing in artists and storytellers as agents of positive social change. She is an award-winning artist, cultural strategist, and social movement leader who has partnered with national organizations and progressive advocacy groups to design effective cultural campaigns. In addition to being the visionary behind the Migration Is Beautiful art and narrative, Favianna embodies the perspective of a first-generation American Latinx artist with Afro-Peruvian roots. Her art and praxis address migration, economic inequality, gender justice, and climate change, boldly reshaping the myths, ideas, and cultural practices of the present, while confronting the wounds of the past. A strategy advisor to artists of all genres, Favianna is regarded as one of the leading thinkers and personalities uniting art, culture, and social impact, collaborating deeply with social movements around the world. Favianna also helps lead cultural strategy design and investment by helping to organize the philanthropic sector, with a focus on foundations addressing gender justice, racial justice, climate change and cultural equity. Favianna’s projects include creating art for Ben & Jerry's Pecan Resist, partnering with Jill Solloway to create 5050by2020, collaborating with #TimesUp Entertainment, and facilitating immersive artist delegations to the US Mexico border. She is a recipient of the Robert Rauschenberg Artist as Activist Fellowship for her work around immigration and mass incarceration, and an Atlantic Fellowship for Racial Equity for her work around racial justice and climate change.
