Charlotte Mecklenburg Afro-american Cultural and Service Center Inc

What it reported doing in 2024

Exhibitions and programmingexhibitionsthe gantt center's artistic vision exemplifies the use of art as activism while embracing innovation and intellectual thought- essential ingredients to fulfilling the critical need for a more vibrant charlotte. As an innovative institution that prides itself on the quality of artistic works and programs presented to the community, the foundation of our vision lies on the premise that african-american art and culture, although under-represented and underfunded, must claim and own its place among mainstream cultural institutions. The gantt's iei focuses directly on access, inclusion and equity issues in the community, which has served to heighten our awareness internally and shifted our organizational strategies and practices. We ensure that our exhibitions align with the most pressing needs of our community, as well as provide a platform for education through the lens of artists, as seen in exhibitions such as choose your weapon, visual vanguard, welcome to brookhill, jamel shabazz: reflections of a people and visible man: art and black male subjectivity.modain may 2023, the gantt center opened the mecca of digital arts (moda) digital arts studio, which has successfully cultivated and established community connections to support mentorship, career choices, and exposure to existing and emerging technologies for local youth. This initiative also serves as a valuable community asset, fostering the exploration of digital arts for emerging artists. The studio space was built to accommodate three key programming areas: photography, film/videography, and other related digital arts disciplines such as animation, illustration, character design, music production, and ar/vr. A dedicated staff member assigned to manage the digital arts studio, supporting the creative faculty collective, teaching artists, and developing relevant and substantive programming curricula to ensure equitable community access to digital art instruction and resources.family firstthe gantt center offers educational and artistic programs for adults and schoolchildren of all ages. Our family first program, sponsored by novant health, has allowed us to design programs primarily for students between the ages of 5 and 13. On the first saturday of each month, children and their families can engage in artistic and cultural activities and workshops that meet them where they are. Past family-first activities have included theatre arts, dance, mask making, music making, spoken word, poetry, painting, collage-making, and various other art forms.k-12 student educational programmingat the core of our educational programming is the newly developed envision me program, launched in the fall of 2020 in partnership with charlotte-mecklenburg schools. Envision me aims to reach more students and provide access to high-quality creative experiences for title 1 school students. This program provides access to insightful experiences with state-of-the-art equipment that utilizes the arts to build confidence, improve critical thinking, and ignite students' passion for learning across multiple subject areas. Students engage in twelve (12) workshops with a selected artist in residence.gantt teacher institute: building equitable classroomsin partnership with charlotte-mecklenburg schools, the gantt center's teacher institute is a now one-day on-site experience designed to help teachers build more equitable classrooms. Recently, as a foundation for cultural proficiency learning, the gantt commissioned a series of works by photographer and image activist alvin c. Jacobs called "welcome to brookhill". Through this and other thought-provoking exhibition projects like "question bridge: black males", teachers explore themes such as racism, gentrification, health, wealth, and education to help them identify their own biases. This process of self-discovery supports a better understanding of the issues marginalized students of color cope with outside of the classroo

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 93.7%; rating input score 94
• Program expense ratio: 75.3%; rating input score 75
• Fundraising efficiency: $5.78 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
  • Compensation committee: Missing
  • Independent consultant: Missing
  • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
  • Written employment contract: Missing
  • Compensation survey or study: Missing
  • Board or committee approval: Pass
• Foreign activity oversight: Limited
• Grant itemization coverage: Limited
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
• Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

• Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
• Governance controls: 8 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 100
  • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
  • Whistleblower policy: Pass
  • Document-retention policy: Pass
  • CEO compensation review process: Pass
  • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
  • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
  • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
  • Audit committee oversight: Pass
  • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

• Operating margin: -22.6%; rating input score 6; 6th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.75; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
• Officer compensation ratio: 4.9%; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 9.2% per year; rating input score 100; 61st percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 6% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings