The longtime community hub is investing in Carnival artists, expanding cultural equity efforts, and launching a community-owned hotel to put power back in the hands of residents.
When LaShaunda Pickett-René first called New Orleans home, she looked for places of belonging.
“I was a young mother at the time, looking for, you know, community spaces that I could be in, either with my child or just with other people who were somewhat near my age group,” says Pickett-René.
She was introduced to the Ashé Cultural Arts Center, a nonprofit focused on art and empowering the community through wellness, economic development, and social justice initiatives with the lens of the African Diaspora.
Now the organization’s chief strategy officer, Pickett-René says Ashé proved to be a place where she could learn, grow, and feel connected. The center is expanding on that mission by pushing for equity via initiatives such as advocating for a more equitable and inclusive cultural economy for artists and culture bearers working in the carnival industry and launching a capital campaign, “We Anchor The Culture,” to establish an employee and community-owned hotel and community investment fund among other high-leverage, high-impact work in and with community.
