Arts
This week, we’re talking about investing in the creative economy from two perspectives. First, we get an overview of the issues from Laura Callanan. She’s the founding partner of Upstart Co-Lab, an organization which works to connect impact investing to the creative economy. With global partners from the UK and Argentina, Upstart Co-Lab co-published a report about this--Creativity, Culture & Capital: Impact investing in the global creative economy brings together some 40 essays from organizations from around the world that support impact investing in creative industries. In the podcast, Callanan explains what’s meant by the creative economy and impact investing, and how they contribute to a thriving culture and economy. She always shares what the United States might learn from the work done in this area by other countries. Then, we burrow down and look at investing in the creative economy from a local perspective by looking at the work done in Atlanta, Georgia with Sheoyki Jones. Sheoyki Jones is the founding program manager of Creative Industries, an initiative of Invest Atlanta. (She also contributed an essay to the Creativity Culture & Capitalreport called “The Creative Industries: Driving Economic Opportunity in Atlanta.”) Jones talks with me about the programs that Creative Industries began that support Atlanta’s creative workers. She discusses the importance of genuine outreach to creative workers and also shares some of the challenges and best practices in designing programs that invest in and support local creative communities.