Marc Bamuthi Joseph

“Art is oxygen for the lungs of the body politic, and I have the extremely good fortune to operate in rare air,” says Marc Bamuthi Joseph, whose spoken-word art has taken him from the Apollo Theater to the TED stage. “My job is to remember that some of us can’t breathe.”

Within the hallowed halls of America’s most renowned arts institutions, the focus is typically on being a repository of culture. But too many artists—generally those from underrepresented communities—never make it through the door. As the Vice President of Social Impact at the Kennedy Center, Joseph is exploring how the institution can be an engine for more inclusive culture, not just collecting art but also spurring culture creation with a focus on social justice. From investing in local cultural leaders, to promoting school partnerships, to launching initiatives like The Cartography Project—an effort to map the future of classical music with work from composers of color—the Social Impact group has already become one of the largest BIPOC-led arts teams in the country and is creating long-term change.