3 minute read
Victoria Jones
THE CLTV | MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE
TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUOUSLY CHECK IN with strong, thoughtful leaders in this program who were as equally concerned about the success of my organization as they were with my personal health and well-being meant the world to me! The Catalyst Collective program’s attention to my care has had such a positive impact on my personal program experience. And for me, it’s been a community that’s allowed me to be courageous in my leadership.
The problem we face is radical, it is killing people, leaving folks displaced, without decent education, enduring food insecurity; Black folks who’ve never been empowered with an opportunity to name themselves. If we stand a chance at making this world better for Black people, it’ll take generations of radical effort. Otherwise we’re putting band-aids on a bullet wound (that’s gone untreated for centuries).
A better future can only be realized with philanthropy committing to funding Black people. Fund their capital campaigns, their start ups, their transitions from organization to institution, their youth programs. Black folks know how to solve the issues facing our community, we just need access to the resources necessary to enact long-lasting systemic change.
I am encouraged by the number of Black women finding themselves in nonprofit leadership roles. After generations and generations of our hard work, dedication, and love being ignored by white men in power, I am excited to see what we are able to accomplish in these roles and this new shift in leadership for the future of the nonprofit sector.
Meet the 28-Year- Old Who Works With Black Artists in Memphis to Uplift Communities.
Bianca Lambert (2020)
Victoria sits on a panel for “The Atlantic and Shared Prosperity”, moderated by PBS’s Ray Suarez, April 2019.
Source: Instagram.
Victoria and friends on Juneteenth 2019
Source: Instagram.
ABOUT
In 2015, with the encouragement of artists, activists, and stakeholders, Victoria Jones gathered a group of Black artists and founded The CLTV (Collective) in an effort to empower the community they were charged to serve. The CLTV operates under the belief that Black artists and creators are the most thoughtful and brilliant change agents in the city. For that reason, the CLTV is dedicated to elevating Black artists in Memphis, using their creative expression and thought energy to uplift Black communities, and in execution shifting the culture of Memphis. The CLTV creates original programming and also partners with legacy institutions in Memphis such as the Brooks Museum, Crosstown Arts, Rhodes College and Urban Arts Commission to guide equity and inclusion initiatives.
