WOCA is a national, grassroots network dedicated to creating racial equity in the arts and culture sector, by promoting professional opportunities for arts leaders and providing a platform to help amplify the voice and visibility of women of color. After seeing the lack of diversity and experiencing an overwhelming stubbornness of the field to not consider the structural inequities that gave opportunities to some and not to others, WOCA co-founder Kaisha S. Johnson began on-the-ground organizing, recruiting colleagues to engage with how women of color could come together and help radically shift the field. Ultimately, with the support of Alison Mcneil, who helped co-found the organization, WOCA was able to launch its first formal meeting at the Association of Performing Arts Professionals (APAP) conference in 2010. Since then, the work of WOCA has expanded to include widely-lauded programs like our Women’s Leadership Forum and Leadership through Mentorship Initiative to our widely-anticipated annual convening in New York City and has come to epitomize the embodiment of solidarity for women of color working in the arts. Over the course of our 12 years, WOCA has been able to produce impactful events like “’Til The Street Lights Come On: Celebrating Double Dutch in NYC,” “The Art of White Supremacy,” “Speak On It: The Wisdom of Black Women Arts Leaders” and “We Got Us: Women of Color on the Solidarity Economy” which fit into our wider spectrum of programming and our overarching goal of spotlighting the contributions of women of color leaders and igniting conversations that lead to direct field-wide action. WOCA is now a network with over 500 members that serves communities both in the U.S. and abroad, affirming the need for an inclusive, far-reaching, and sustainable vehicle to support women of color in both their personal and professional endeavors and move the dialogue of racial equity towards real transformational change.
