The Disrupters: Making New York’s Cultural Boards More Diverse

Board membership in New York has always been a rich person’s game. In exchange for the social status and networking opportunities provided by the Met, MoMA, Lincoln Center and Carnegie Hall, the bulk of trustees are expected to donate (or at least raise) hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. And until 1980, almost all of those who were on such boards were white. Never mind that the African-American contralto Marian Anderson made her Carnegie Hall debut roughly 50 years earlier. Never mind that Arthur Mitchell joined New York City Ballet in the 1950s.