An Inquiry of Place

Our Story

Newfound started in Texas in 2009 as Precipitate, an online arts and culture journal that showcased the work of emerging writers, artists, and critics exploring the concept of place. Inspired by the work of Gloria Anzaldúa, our mission broadened and in 2013 we achieved 501(c)(3) nonprofit status as Newfound. An independent small press publisher, Newfound operates financially sustainable projects that support writers and artists through promotion, career advancement, and financial compensation.

Our current projects include an online journal and a chapbook press. Our paying journal is published biannually online and features fiction, poetry, nonfiction, visual arts, reviews, and more. The press publishes four chapbooks (three poetry, one prose) annually. In 2014, we established an annual poetry prize to honor Gloria Anzaldúa. In 2015, we established the Newfound Prose Prize to celebrate writers of short and unique prose. Through our Emerging Poets Chapbook Series, we accept unsolicited chapbook-length manuscripts from writers who have not yet published a full-length book in an effort to bring emerging authors wider acclaim.

We are proud of our readership, with a cross-platform circulation of over 59,000 visitors from around the world. We have welcomed hundreds of talented writers and artists, including Craig Santos Perez, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Hanif Abdurraqib, and Kathy Fish. In 2015, we were awarded a $10k Google AdWords grant.

Our greatest successes are those of our contributors. Authors have gone on to be finalists and winners for national prizes—such as the Poetry Society of America’s Four Quartets Prize, the Donald Hall Prize for Poetry, the Eric Hoffer Award, and more—and included in national anthologies, such as Best American Poetry, Best New Poets, and Best Microfiction. Our chapbooks are sold at independent bookstores across the US. Poetry titles are graciously archived by The University of Arizona Poetry Center, Poetry Foundation, and the UT Poetry Center at the Perry-Castañeda Library. Reviews of our chapbooks have appeared in Ploughshares, Rain Taxi, Cleaver Magazine, Kenyon Review, Necessary Fiction, Diagram, and elsewhere.

Board of Directors

We are writers, artists, and editors, who have significantly contributed to the organization and/or arts community. We manage the organization with leadership, production, advising, and outreach. Ultimately responsible for the efficacy of programs. We succeed by executing the strategic plan, measuring efficacy, and communicating with volunteers about process and progress.

• Rodney Gomez, Director
• Crystal Odelle, President
• Gwynne Middleton, Director
• Rujuta Paradkar, Director

Learn more about us on the Newfound teams page.

Strategic Plan

Our 5-year plan centers on healing within the organization, arts communities, and world at large. Newfound commits to growth in five areas:

1. Equity and Inclusion
2. Volunteer Care
3. Board Empowerment
4. Audience Engagement
5. Community Building

1 • Equity and Inclusion

Challenge: Continue toward becoming a full-inclusive anti-racist multicultural organization. On the “Continuum on Becoming an Antiracist Multicultural Institution,” volunteer feedback places the organization between “Symbolic Change” and “Identity Change.”

Path: The board will 1) develop a clear identity as an anti-racist institution with a commitment to dismantle systemic racism in its mission and/or submission guidelines; 2) publish diverse voices across all projects; 3) recruit greater diversity among volunteers across all levels to benefit from a diversity of viewpoints, values, cultures, and lifestyles; 4) support other arts organizations that share our values and, through statements from the board, hold other arts organizations accountable to eliminate all forms of oppression; and 5) partner with other multicultural organizations.

Measurement: Assessment will include 1) conducting anonymous annual volunteer surveys. In collaboration with volunteers, the board will develop a concrete plan to implement changes within 3 months; 2) review of NASCI and NASVI survey data; and 3) external audit of institutional life to ensure the full participation of People of Color.

2 • Volunteer Care

Challenge: Our volunteers are our greatest resource. Although volunteering itself has become a pillar of literary citizenship, the organization must recognize its volunteers as citizens of arts communities and serve them in development of skills necessary to perform job-related duties, as well as in community engagement at the level of the organization.

Path: The organization will support volunteers by 1) reimbursing for conferences, workshops, and skills training related to performing ordinary and necessary job-related duties; 2) organizing tri-annual creative workshops; and 3) organizing workshops for conference proposals, cover letters, and CVs.

Measurement: Conduct anonymous annual volunteer satisfaction surveys. The board will develop a concrete plan to implement change within 3 months.

3 • Board Empowerment

Challenge:The board must do more than the minimum to take “ordinary care,” as written in our by-laws, to monitor and assess implementation of our mission, strategies, and goals.

Path: The board will 1) clarify board & volunteer position descriptions, accountability, organizational and reporting structures, and decision-making processes; 2) expand up to 9 directors recruiting from community leaders with institutional experience and a keen understanding of systemic inequities; 3) revise by-laws mission to better characterize our current work; 4) redesign nonprofit and mission pages for greater transparency; 5) steward the 2021–2025 Strategic Plan and develop another plan in its last year.

Measurement: The board will review the Board Activation path and progress at least once annually and plan accordingly to complete our objectives.

4 • Audience Engagement

Challenge: As a nonprofit publisher, we must evaluate how we engage with readers and authors to best serve arts communities.

Path: We will 1) revamp our website for ADA compliance; 2) host Zoom readings post-pandemic with live captioning; 3) complete our Guidelines for Payment of Honoraria policy with a financial plan for increases; and 4) revise our themed issues to relate to current issues and reflect our value of art as a tool of change.

Measurement: The board will review the Audience Investment path and progress at least once annually and plan accordingly to complete our objectives.

5 • Community Building

Challenge: We must grow others with us, eschewing competition for a community model of support with other organizations.

Path: Newfound will 1) continue existing relationships with values-driven organizations; 2) continue annual reading series with values-driven publishers; 3) start place-based reading series with community partners to support authors or raise donations for a local charitable cause; and 4) start a fiscal sponsorship program and/or workshops (potential topics: path to nonprofit status, Submittable hacks, fiscal management, chapbooks) for sister nonprofits.

Measurement: The board will review the Community Investment path and progress at least once annually and plan accordingly to complete our objectives.

Financials

View our 990s on Guidestar: