Art+ Connects Higher Ed & Organizations for Social Impact Work
Sep 12, 2022
How can students collaborate with for- and non-profit organizations to produce more artful, impactful, and relevant social impact messaging? Art+, a new web application, seeds these collaborations by providing a platform for organizations to solicit and review pitches from students for social impact-focused research or creative materials for upcoming campaigns.
Art+ provides a unique opportunity for organizations to connect with a diverse pool of student creatives–at historically black colleges and universities, tribal institutions, women’s colleges and Hispanic-serving institutions as well as traditional art schools, research universities, and liberal arts colleges. The platform allows organizations to fulfill their need for diverse suppliers and provides students with significant real-world experience working with clients prior to graduation.
Learn more about how Art+ works here.
Art+ membership is required for organizations to submit a call for proposals, and for educational institutions to submit proposals. Art+ offers a free 30-day trial and schools are only charged if they begin submitting pitches on active calls. a2ru is a proud partner of Art+ as they recruit their inaugural members among the country’s leading higher education institutions.
Ricardhy Grandoit, Art+’s founder, has been developing the concept for Art+ for nearly a decade, as he built his career around social impact and DEI work that spanned the education and private sectors. Born in Haiti and raised in Massachusetts, he began his career at Northeastern University’s Center for the Study of Sport and Society, where he used “train the trainer” and bystander intervention approaches to spark dialogue with high school and university student-athletes around complex issues like sexual assault, domestic violence, racial discrimination, bullying and hazing. In 2015, he was hired by Major League Baseball to develop and implement their league-wide sexual and domestic violence prevention initiatives; while at MLB, he also worked with Ibis Consulting Group to build curricula and deliver workshops on DEI topics to a broad range of organizations. He recently left MLB to run global DEI communications for pharmaceutical firm Takeda. Drawing upon his extensive experience building cross-sector partnerships in service of social impact and justice goals, he officially launched Art+ this year.
Grandoit had connected with and sought advice from a2ru Executive Director Maryrose Flanigan several years ago as he was developing Art+; she invited him to join our recent 10th anniversary leadership convening “a2ru@10: What’s Next for Arts Integration.” At the convening, Grandoit was able to share the concept for Art+ with our community members, and University of Florida’s Heidi Boisvert, the interdisciplinary artist and researcher who delivered the event’s opening invocation, has since joined Art+’s Board of Advisors.
To learn more or to become an Art+ member, visit their site.
About Ricardhy Grandoit
Ricardhy Grandoit, SHRM-SCP, is the founder of Artplus Group (“artplus.com”/ “Art+”).
Ricardhy’s professional background is deeply rooted in implementing programming specific to the intersection of education and social impact. Ricardhy has worked in higher education in various capacities, including as a Program Manager leading workshops on intimate partner violence prevention, and as an event moderator for professional development workshops. Most recently, Ricardhy worked for Major League Baseball (MLB), where he led the educational efforts for MLB’s intimate partner violence prevention policy. At MLB, Ricardhy also served as the co-chair to the Black Professionals Business Resource Group. Furthermore, Ricardhy is a member of the Board of Directors for Jane Doe Inc, the Massachusetts State Coalition Against Sexual Assault and Domestic Violence, and most recently has been appointed as a Board Member for Playworks, a national nonprofit that supports learning and physical health by providing safe and inclusive play to low-income students in urban schools. Currently, Ricardhy works as a Global DE&I Communications Manager, for Takeda, a global biopharmaceutical company.
Ricardhy earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and a Master of Science in Project Management & Higher Education Administration from Northeastern University in Boston, MA. He holds certifications as a Senior Certified Professional in Human Resource Management (SHRM-SCP) through the Society for Human Resource Management and in Psychological First Aid and Post Traumatic Stress Management through the International Trauma Center and the Trauma Institute International respectively.