On this week’s episode of the One O‘ahu Podcast, Jennifer Santos, executive director for the Mayor’s Office of Culture and the Arts joins host Brandi Higa to discuss joining the City and what’s prepared her for this role, as well as goals for the office which, she says, starts with organizational health.
Joining the City ‘ohana
In July, Mayor Blangiardi announced the appointment of Jennifer Santos as the new Executive Director of the Mayor’s Office of Culture and the Arts (MOCA) for the City and County of Honolulu. Santos comes to the City with more than 20 years of experience across the corporate, nonprofit, and Native Hawaiian organizations.
“I’m thrilled to be able to bring that mindset as far as strategy planning and operational rigor into the space here which is MOCA,” said Jennifer Santos.
Santos most recently served as Director of Strategy, Planning, and Operations for Business Acceleration at VMware, where she led global customer success initiatives and championed inclusive leadership programs.
Incubation spaces for artists and cultural practitioners
On this episode of the One O’ahu Podcast, Santos explains that a lot of the feedback they are hearing is that there are limitations on access for creative processes to take place. This is something she feels MOCA can help with.
“One of the things that I’m looking to do is to create incubation spaces,” added Jennifer Santos. “I want to be able to have wrap around support for artists and creatives and cultural practitioners.”
Santos goes on to explain that she is looking into ways to utilize city-owned spaces, as well as partnering with local non-profits to expand opportunities.
A 30-60-90-day plan for MOCA
Santos explains that she came into this role with a 30, 60, and 90-day plan. A goal included within the first 30 days is improving the office’s organizational health.
“It comes back to our own identity and understanding who we are,” explained Santos. “If you ask everyone what MOCA is, you’ll probably hear different definitions. So we want to bring clarity. We want people to know who we are. We want people to know who we aren’t.”
For more information on MOCA’s resources and programs, visit https://honolulumoca.org/
You can also follow MOCA on social media at: https://www.instagram.com/hnl_moca/?hl=en or https://www.facebook.com/HonoluluMOCA/
