Dance/NYC Awards First Round of Grants through Dance Workforce Resilience Fund
Company:
Dance/NYC
Dance/NYC is proud to announce the successful completion of the first round of grantmaking through its Dance Workforce Resilience (DWR) Fund, a pilot initiative designed to promote fair labor practices, support contracted freelance dance work, and reduce wage inequities across New York City’s dance sector. The Fund received over 120 applications in its first month, with all applicants who were not yet selected opting to remain in the pool for future lottery rounds.
Launched in June 2025, the DWR Fund offers one-time $1,000 grants to freelance dancers working in the NYC metropolitan area for eligible, contracted dance work completed between January 1, 2025, and April 30, 2026. Applicants are randomly selected through a monthly weighted lottery that prioritizes individuals who are most often underpaid or excluded from traditional funding opportunities, including African, Latina/o/x, Asian, Arab, and Native American (ALAANA); disabled; immigrant; transgender; nonbinary; and older (40+) dancers.
Supported by the Ford Foundation, New York Community Trust, and other generous funders, the DWR Fund is a core component of Dance/NYC’s multiyear Dance. Workforce. Resilience. (DWR) Initiative, which aims to strengthen the dance ecology by fostering economic sustainability for individual dance workers and organizations alike. It is administered by Dance/NYC in collaboration with consultants F. Javier Torres-Campos and Jo-Ná A. Williams, Esq., utilizing guidance from an advisory group of dance workers with experience in grantmaking and arts labor advocacy.
“The overwhelming response to the DWR Fund reflects both the need and the urgency for more equitable labor practices in dance,” says Sara Roer, Interim Executive Director of Dance/NYC. “We’re thrilled to support dancers in building greater financial stability through contracts and fair pay, and we are excited to continue this work in partnership with the field.”
Grantees selected in the first round of funding have begun receiving awards this August. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis through March 3, 2026, and new grantees will continue to be selected monthly until all funds are awarded.
“I am humbled and very grateful for this award,” says Clarence Brooks, a DWR Fund recipient. “In a field where funding is so often youth-focused, being the recipient of this grant says folx like me—even senior artists—are valued, and appreciated.”
Dance/NYC offers a range of application support services to ensure accessibility and ease of participation. These include:
One-on-one technical and legal assistance sessions with Spanish and Chinese translation and ASL interpretation available upon request
Support webinars with recordings available on Dance/NYC’s YouTube channel
A downloadable application guide
Sample contracts and contract request templates
For more information about eligibility, upcoming due dates, and support services, visitDance.NYC/DWRFund.
About Dance/NYC:
Dance/NYC’s mission is to promote and encourage the knowledge, appreciation, practice, and performance of dance in the metropolitan New York City area. It embeds core values of justice, equity, and inclusion into all aspects of its programs and operations. Dance/NYC remains committed to delivering programs that address disparities in the dance field by continuing to fill gaps in the availability of resources where they are most needed. It believes the dance ecology must itself be just, equitable, and inclusive to meaningfully contribute to social progress and envisions a dance ecology wherein power, funding, opportunities, conduct, and impacts are fair for all artists, cultural workers, and audiences.
About the New York Community Trust:
The New York Community Trust connects past, present, and future generous New Yorkers with vital nonprofits working to make a healthy, equitable, and thriving community for all. From the creation of the country’s first donor-advised fund to our vital role in the region’s response to the AIDS crisis, September 11th, and COVID-19, The Trust has always been a pioneer, innovator, and leader in offering donors effective ways to empower and champion nonprofits.
About the Ford Foundation:
The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization with assets currently valued at $16 billion. For more than 85 years it has worked with courageous people on the frontlines of social change worldwide, guided by its mission to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia.
About F. Javier Torres-Campos:
F. Javier Torres-Campos is a seasoned philanthropic leader committed to liberated and self-determined futures for all people. Professionally, Javier is the co-founder of Liberation Partners Co-Op and deploys his more than 20 years of experience as an independent consultant providing interim leadership, philanthropic and executive advising, board development, fundraising consulting, curriculum and program design, and cultural audits for organizations to align their governance, operations, programs, and policies with their values. His work centers on a just transition of our culture centering deep investment in care for people and community while investing in imagination, world-building, prototyping, and power-building. Javier is also the co-founder and co-chair overseeing Strategic Partnerships for Twenty43 Ventures, a pilot impact investing vehicle for commercial-scale BIPOC film and theater working to illustrate market viability and increase ownership, control, and wealth-building opportunities for creators.
About Jo-Ná A. Williams, Esq.:
Jo-Ná A. Williams, Esq. is an award-winning attorney, founder, CEO, and advisor who founded J.A. Williams Law P.C. in 2012 to provide entrepreneurs, public figures, companies, brands, nonprofits, and thought leaders with ways to successfully maximize their careers, secure their companies/organizations, and provide assistance with business, and intellectual property matters.
Her clients have written New York Times best-selling books, been nominated for Grammy and Emmy Awards, listed in the Billboard Top 100, with films and shows premiering on HBO, Netflix, HGTV, Amazon Prime, SXSW, and have received local and international acclaim.
She’s been featured in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Fortune, Black Enterprise, The Root and Marie TV. She has spoken at Facebook, LinkedIn, NYU University, and Rent The Runway, amongst others. She was named Intellectual Property & Business Attorney of the Year by Acquisition International in 2019. She was also named one of the Top 40 Lawyers under 40 in 2019 by the National Black Lawyers and one of their Top 100 Lawyers in the country in 2023 and 2024. She’s an instructor for LinkedIn for Learning and is a Board Member of The LGBT Community Center and the UPI Loan Fund. J.A. Williams Law has offices in both New York City and Dallas.
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