GOLD HOUSE LAUNCHES “FUTURES” TO CULTIVATE NEXT GEN ASIAN & PACIFIC ISLANDER LEADERS IN CREATIVE, ENTREPRENEUR, AND SOCIAL IMPACT INDUSTRIES
To elevate the next generation of changemakers, Gold House, the premier nonprofit collective of Asian & Pacific Islander (API) leaders, is thrilled to launch Gold House Futures. This endeavor will advance the success of emerging API creatives, entrepreneurs, and social impact leaders—through investments with prominent partners, skill-building for successful leadership, and world-class mentoring from industry titans. Gold House’s inaugural class of Futures will kickstart with five categories (“Guilds”) that foster further connectivity within these groups and are critical to strengthening positive API perception: film, music, fine art, entrepreneurship, and social impact. Each Guild will work closely with leaders from their respective categories and participants will receive additional support from the initiative’s cross-industry partners, including Meta (which is amplifying Futures through development programs, social media education, and exclusive networking and events) and Condé Nast (which is providing communications and branding programming across all Guilds). Futures will address the historical problem of API contributions being undersupported and undervalued. Harvard Business Review reported that Asians–and Asian women–are the least likely to be promoted to management. Asian-owned businesses were the hardest hit out of all demographic groups nationwide during the pandemic, according to CNBC. Further, support infrastructure lacks: a study from AAPI Data found that, among important AAPI issues, grantmakers ranked Arts & Culture as tied for lowest in funding priority. Despite this, filmmaker Chloé Zhao became the first Asian woman to win Best Director in The Academy Awards’ 93 year history this year while also becoming the most-decorated director in a single awards season. Moreover, several Asians led the Forbes’ coveted Midas List (Alfred Lin of Sequoia) and saw historic IPOs in recent years (Katrina Lake becoming the youngest woman of color and second youngest woman to ever IPO).
“Instead of waiting for seats at others’ existing tables, we’re here to build our own: ones that are uniquely us. With the backing of industry luminaries and the world’s largest platforms, Gold House Futures is equipping the next generation of creative and company leaders with career-making, life-changing resources to achieve authentic representation and commercial success. This combination of creativity and commerce–changing how we are seen and how we can live–is a critical success to rebalancing socioeconomic equity for the API community and others,”
said Mikkoh Chen, Head of Futures.
The descriptions for each Guild are found below:
Film: The Future Gold Film Fellowship
Created by Netflix, Tribeca Studios, and Gold House, three API filmmakers will be selected to receive funding and promotion to produce a short film—chosen by a diverse panel of industry heavyweights, including Jon M. Chu, Daniel Dae Kim, and Alice Wu. Tribeca Studios will serve as Executive Producers, allowing the filmmakers to receive invaluable support, customized mentorship, and guidance from leading executives throughout production to advance their filmmaking prowess. They will also connect with leading API storytellers in the industry and Netflix mentors for further development and community-building.
Music: The Music Guild
Gold House is collaborating with Spotify to bolster three API music artists who will have the opportunity to record Spotify Singles—a series of original artist recordings in its in-house studios that are released for streaming. These artists will be selected by a committee of music industry leaders (including Ronny Ho of Spotify, Puja Patel of Pitchfork, Eric Wong of Warner Music Group, Annie Lee of Universal Music Group) and icons (including Far East Movement) and receive support, amplification, and programming from Spotify. Applications for the Music Guild are open on 12/6 and the inaugural class will be revealed in Q1 2022.
Fine Art: The Gold Art Prize
The Gold Art Prize is a biennial award, administered by Gold House and art advisor Kelly Huang of KCH Advisory, that spotlights the achievements of five contemporary API artists each cycle. The prize is juried by a distinguished nominating committee of API curators from major institutions (including The Whitney Museum, LACMA) and a selection committee of the most influential API figures in society (including Gemma Chan, Prabal Gurung). Awardees each receive a $25,000 unrestricted grant, a catalogue that features their work, and an exhibition opportunity at the newly-established ICA San Francisco.
Entrepreneurship: Gold Rush
Gold Rush is a biannual accelerator—built for and by API founders—to champion the most promising API-led companies. The 12-week mentorship-driven program propels companies to top-line acceleration, high-value customer acquisition, media amplification, and invaluable connections with investors and experts in their industry. Upon graduation, participants join a larger cross-industry API founder network and continue to receive dedicated programming specifically for empowering API founders, including the Panda Express Food & Beverage track and the Julia Gouw Women’s Leadership track, to maximize their impact and success.
Social Impact: The Gold Futures Challenge
In partnership with Asian American Futures, the Gold Futures Challenge is a philanthropic award that recognizes the accomplishments of nonprofits serving API communities. Ten prizes ranging from $25,000 to $100,000 are awarded to organizations for projects that ensure API communities are Seen, Heard, Empowered, and United. The prize amounts are determined by public vote from a pool of finalists chosen by a slate of social justice leaders on our selection committee (including Chanel Miller, MILCK, and Weijia Jiang). Awardees are also invited to participate in educational programming provided by Node, a nonprofit social education network to empower API community leaders.
Visit www.goldhousefutures.com to learn more about Gold House Futures.
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About Gold House
Gold House is the premier nonprofit collective of Asian founders, creative voices, and leaders dedicated to unifying the world’s largest populace–Asians and Pacific Islanders–to fight for authentic multicultural representation and societal equity. Our ventures include membership systems and benefits to fortify relationships among Asians and with other marginalized communities (#StopAsianHate); championing authentic Asian representation through media to reshape public opinion (Gold Open, Gold Records, A100 List); and accelerating commercial success of Asian founders and top emerging creatives (Gold Rush, Founder Network, Angel Network). To learn more, visit www.goldhouse.org or follow @GoldHouseCo on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
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