iMPACT
REPORT

Fiscal sponsorship is one of HiiiWAV's highest-leverage activities: we extend our 501(c)(3) status so mission-aligned artists and teams can receive tax-deductible donations and grants, run compliant financials and reporting, and open foundation and public-funder doors—without each project standing up a new nonprofit. We steward pass-through funds, documentation, and sponsor oversight so creative leads stay in their lane: art, community, and program delivery.

That's fiscal sponsorship as infrastructure—not a paperwork checkbox, but shared back office, credibility, and scale for independent work under the HiiiWAV umbrella.

Make It Bay

We deepened our relationship with Make It Bay as a regional partner for fiscal sponsorship—aligning Bay Area inclusion, workforce, and ecosystem goals with the artists and projects we sponsor. The partnership helps connect sponsored work to broader regional tables: shared learning, coordinated storytelling, and pathways for projects that sit at the intersection of culture, entrepreneurship, and economic mobility.

Sponsored projects

Highlights from our fiscal sponsorship portfolio:

• Alphabet Rockers — continued sponsorship for grant-aligned, foundation-ready work that advances education and culture through music and media.
• Ryan Nicole — fiscal sponsorship for her project pipeline: fundraising readiness, grant and donor pathways, and compliant administration as her creative and community-facing work scales.
• Sol Affirmation — sponsorship backing this project with structured financial and reporting support so the team can grow programs and partnerships with clarity and accountability.

Cofounders Musical

With Cofounders Musical, we developed the APP accelerator and the Live Concert Pitch competition—programs that treat the stage as a venture lab: artists refine narrative and business story in a live performance context, paired with mentorship, feedback, and investor-style storytelling. The goal is simple— rigor and showmanship in the same room—so creative practice and entrepreneurial muscle reinforce each other, not compete.

What we learned

We conducted research on what would make artists successful and able to generate income—and kept coming back to infrastructure: not only skills and networks, but places where audiences gather and money can change hands. Oakland does not yet have enough bars, music venues, and comparable rooms where artists can reliably work, perform, and earn.

Festivals show the need

Flagship events like Hiero Day and Hella Juneteenth demonstrate the draw and economic energy of artist-centered gatherings—and the gap: we need reusable indoor and outdoor venue capacity built for artist-centered programming, not one-off workarounds.

OSA & Cloud Park

We developed our relationship with OSA and advanced site development in collaboration toward Cloud Park—a downtown Oakland initiative advanced in memoriam to Angus Cloud, with OSA as a key partner. By bringing our event portfolio and production experience, we are helping catalyze an artist-purpose park—public space designed for creative life in the core of the city. The park is envisioned as a future home for Hella Juneteenth and other festivals, so annual energy can anchor in a durable civic asset.

City of Belonging Initiative & Frank Ogawa Plaza

The City of Belonging Initiative (founded 2021, Oakland) is a nonprofit development and design organization that turns overlooked urban space into inclusive infrastructure for creative entrepreneurship, culture, and community—responding to displacement, economic strain on small operators, and the need for community-rooted economic anchors.

Its model combines design, development, and cultural strategy: micro market spaces (vacant storefronts into low-cost retail hubs for food, art, and craft), cultural placemaking (recurring festivals and markets so culture is both celebrated and monetized), and civic infrastructure (public plazas and open space reimagined as flexible cultural parks and year-round platforms).

Flagship work includes Hella Juneteenth, Holiday Fest (150+ small businesses and vendors in one of the Bay Area's largest winter markets), Frank Ogawa Plaza redevelopment with the City of Oakland, Ali Youssefi Square in Sacramento, and a six-month civic concert series pilot across Oakland and Sacramento—linking music, food, and market infrastructure to show how steady programming can reshape trust and use of civic space.

Impact so far: 500+ vendors and artists supported annually; direct economic activity through public events; growing public–private partnerships across the region.

HiiiWAV collaborates in this ecosystem—advancing Frank Ogawa Plaza and aligned activations so belonging, commerce, and creative life meet in the heart of Oakland.

Launching Director for Good

After years of informally supporting fellow nonprofits with operational guidance, HiiiWAV is formalizing this work through Director—a fractional nonprofit leadership service available at directorforgood.org.

Because when one organization succeeds, the whole ecosystem rises.

What's Next for HiiiWAV

• → HiiiWAV 50 Fund: Investing in 50 Oakland creators
• → Oakland Tech Week 2025: Bigger, bolder ecosystem convening
• → AFRO AI Expansion: New cohorts, new partnerships
• → Studio Development: More space for more creators
• → Cloud Park & OSA: Artist-purpose park; Hella Juneteenth & festivals at a civic home
• → Community Wins: Kev Choice, GNXL, Prospect, Sol Development