August 8, 2025: Steering Committee Meeting

Written By Mary Heathcott

To connect the value of arts and culture for San Antonio’s economic and cultural vibrancy and its people.

CAUSA Steering Committee Meeting Minutes

Date: August 8, 2025, 12 PM Attendees: Mary Heathcott, Riley Robinson, Cassandra Parker-Nowicki and Jon Hinojosa.

Approval of Previous Meeting Minutes 

Updates & Announcements 

  • Fiscal sponsorship update with Artpace - A MOU between CAUSA and Artpace was created as part of our grant to the SAAF, Artpace has agreed to be our fiscal agent until we have received our probationary IRS 501C3 designation.

  • IRS 501(c)(3) filing status and next steps - Submitted, but still pending.

  • San Antonio Area Foundation Collective Impact Grant submission - Jon will provide Riley with the draft budget for the grant so we can be proactive if we are awarded the funds.  It is a 2-year commitment, and would be followed with opportunities to submit future programming grants. 

  • Xicanx events or partner highlights - 11 events are currently listed on the DAC page.

  • Sports and Entertainment Policy Statement - The policy statement has been updated based on feedback and is currently commentable for the steering committee. Please review and add your comments.

Financial Overview

  • Fees still owed to partners - funds to partner agencies the Witte and Artpace are notated and are included in our budget to the SAAF for reimbursement.

  • Administrative fee agreement - Artpace as our fiscal agent will receive a 5% admin fee if any funds are expended prior to our IRS designation.

  • Upcoming funding opportunities - A list of national funders was discussed, Jon will work on a schedule and timeline for seeking collective impact support from national funders before we move to finding local funds.  A conversation centered on focusing on local funders, but to be specific on our member organizations and a commitment to prioritizing funds for individual agencies.  

Programmatic Planning and Membership 

  • Next full membership meeting - Mayor, Council and County Meet and Greet to be coordinated after the county and city budgets are completed. Look at a time line of mid-October through mid-November for the event. 

  • Invitation to TPR and KLRN to join - all in attendance felt it would be fruitful and a great opportunity to include TPR and KLRN to our membership.  Jon will facilitate the invitations. 

  • Issues with Performing Arts Orgs - The Tobin and the Majestic and Empire Foundation will always be members of CAUSA, but with the understanding that they may not qualify for city or county funds based on public policies for funding.  

  • New Board Members - When we complete our IRS 501C3 designation we will need to move to fully establish our Board of Directors based on our submitted bylaws.  We will poll our current steering committee to gauge continued interest and the group discussed the following individuals as new members: 

  1. Jerrod Price - YOSA

  2. Nadia Mavrakis  - Culturingua

  3. Emilie Amrein - UTSA Southwest

  4. Chris Rodriguez - Wonder Theatre

  5. Anya Grokhovski - Musical Bridges

  6. Liz Jackson - Briskoe Western Arts Museum

  7. Daniel Menelly - Doseum

We will focus on diversity and inclusivity in individuals and in segments of our city and county. 

Strategic Partnerships

  • County Funding Update - More updates need to be completed and now that the Venue Tax vote has been approved for Nov. we will continue to work to provide the commissioners and the Judge with updates and data. We continue to struggle with scheduling a meeting with Calvert.  Both Riley and Jon will continue the pursuit.

  • Meeting dates with COSA: Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones and councilmembers - Jon has sent out requests for meeting with the council members and the Mayor.  We are working on schedule D1, D3, D10 and the Mayor and Jon will follow up with the rest.  Once we have dates and times, Jon will send out an email to the steering committee to see who will be able to participate.

  • List of county and City budget forums - The list was provided and all steering committee members are encouraged to attend.  Our Data sheet should be used as talking points at the forums.

  • County appeal from former SA leadership - Suhail met with Mayor Ron and Judge Wolf and they have agreed to send LOS’s to the county.  Jon is working on drafting the letters.

Communications & Branding

  • Website and Social media update - Casie and an intern at The Contemporary are populating Instagram with various information and info for Xicanx and CAUSA, their work will continue through the summer.  The CAUSA website has been updated with our data, resources and information for our members. 

Open Forum / Member Updates

  • Brief updates or announcements from members - The Carver’s new season, Artpace’s new roof completion, The Contemporary’s Xicanx Symposium and the Agarita Gallery exhibition season were discussed. 

  • Any concerns or ideas from the committee - All agreed that once we received our 501 C3 and SAAF grant support we need to push CAUSA membership dues to the members to provide financial buy-in from the collective as we move forward. 

  • Confirm assignments and deadlines - The information above discusses upcoming deadlines and work. 

  • Schedule next meeting - Mary will follow up with the steering committee to discuss the next meeting date. 

The meeting was adjourned at 1:20 PM 

Mary Heathcott
Next

May 2025 Meeting