The Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI) was founded in 2001 as a California 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation to strengthen the economic and social infrastructure for creatives, culture bearers, and creative entrepreneurs. Headquartered in Los Angeles, CCI serves creative communities across the United States, supporting those whose work drives cultural and social innovation.

From its inception, CCI has worked to understand and respond to the realities of creative work. Early research, including the landmark study Investing in Creativity: A Study of the Support Structure for U.S. Artists (Urban Institute, 2003), revealed that artists face persistent barriers in training, resources, markets, and financial stability. A decade later, CCI’s national report Creativity Connects: Trends and Conditions Affecting U.S. Artists (2016), produced in collaboration with the National Endowment for the Arts, further illuminated how technology, inequities, and evolving definitions of creative work were reshaping the field.

In response to these findings, CCI expanded its focus from individual sustainability to financial self-determination, recognizing that creativity thrives when creatives and cultural workers have agency over the conditions of their lives. The organization also deepened its commitment to equity, ensuring that opportunities reach those who have been historically excluded from conventional arts-support systems.

Today, CCI serves as a catalyst for change, connecting people, ideas, and resources to strengthen the creative ecosystem. Through research, advocacy, incubation, and investments, CCI continues to advance a more just and vibrant future for the arts and for those whose creativity drives it.

Mission

Center for Cultural Innovation shifts cultural paradigms to catalyze better, alternative solutions for creatives, culture bearers, creative entrepreneurs, and their communities.

Vision

A future in which U.S. creative and cultural expressions reflect the potential of its people, because structures and their systems of self-determination and care for one another are flourishing.

Guiding Principles

• Discernment
• Humble Learning
• People & Community Centeredness
• Risk-Taking
• Steadfastness
• Wonderment

Learn more about CCI in our 2025 Annual Report