///About///
Mission
Thrive Arts' mission is to support BIPOC artists and arts organizations ensuring that small and mid-sized organizations and institutions—particularly those that serve people of color—are given the necessary tools to build capacity, grow, and to serve their constituents at the highest level.
Values
Thrive Arts values creativity, strategy, social impact, and empowerment.
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Our Story
Thrive Arts was established by Abdul Ali and Shamar Hill in 2021 to pool their respective nonprofit experience for a greater good. As Ali and Hill watched the dual pandemics of health and social consciousness unfold in 2020, they saw that it was the artists, arts, and cultural institutions that helped us, collectively and individually, cope with feelings of isolation, support justice, build community, and motivate movement.
Thrive Arts Way
Thrive Arts will address the challenges organizations confront due to capacity or lack thereof through our holistic approach to supporting organizations which is intended to empower nonprofit leaders, particularly those that serve communities of color, so that they ultimately thrive. We will champion these organizations by offering full wrap-around services that will close the equity gap that exists between organizations of color and large, predominantly white led organizations, with endowments.
Staff
Abdul Ali, Co-Chief Executive Officer
Abdul was most recently program director at the Maryland State Arts Council where he oversaw the County Arts Development program and the Arts and Entertainment Districts program. Previously, he managed a major grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the nation’s largest funder in arts and culture, and humanities in higher education, for the Community College of Baltimore County. Ali brings more than 15 years experience working in the nonprofit sector, higher education, and overall being a champion of the arts and humanities. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland. Email Abdul.
Shamar Hill, Co-Chief Executive Officer
Shamar has, for more than fifteen years, forged and nurtured partnerships for nonprofits with foundations; corporations; philanthropists; local, state, and federal governments; and politicians. He is the President of the Board of Directors at The Fostering Connection, which offers pro-bono psychoanalysis to foster children. He is the recipient of numerous awards including a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship and a scholarship from Fine Arts Work Center. He is working on a memoir and poetry collection. He lives in New Jersey with his wife and children. Email Shamar.
Mosiah Williams, Arts Management Fellow
Mosiah is a recent graduate of Howard University, where he received his Bachelors of Arts in English, concentrated in creative writing and minored in Philosophy. Mosiah’s passion for art-based, non-profit justice work is evidenced by his time with The New Press as an Publishing Intern and at Maya Angelou Academy as a teaching aide. Mosiah now serves as the Arts Management Fellow with Thrive Arts, helping to direct the Marita Golden Literary Fellowship, of which he was an inaugural recipient. Mosiah is currently applying for his Master’s of Fine Arts in Poetry as he continues to write and study.. Email Mosiah.
Board
Eric Cotten
Filmmaker
Quanice G. Floyd
Executive Director,
National Guild for Community Arts Education
Andrea Lewis
Executive Director,
The Potter’s House
Advisory Council
Lynnie Godfrey
Actress
Marita Golden
Co-founder and President Emerita,
Zora Neale Hurston/ Richard Wright Foundation
Sylvester A. Johnson
Assistant Vice Provost for the Humanities and Executive Director,
“Tech for Humanity”