Ten Questions for Michael Royce, Executive Director of the New York Foundation for the Arts

Michael royce

Michael Royce is the executive director of the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), a Brooklyn-based nonprofit that serves artists, arts administrators and arts organizations nationally. Since the pandemic began, Royce has overseen the fundraising and distribution of $21 million in either economic or medical aid to artists who have been impacted by COVID-19. The figure represents a 1,300% increase over the foundation’s typical $1 million–$2 million outlay.

Prior to joining NYFA, Royce served as the deputy director of the New York State Council on the Arts and the director of programming for the Theatre Development Fund. He also served as an on-site evaluator for the National Endowment for the Arts for 15 years.

We recently chatted with Royce about key moments in his professional career, the state of philanthropy, and playwright Samuel Beckett’s exhortation to strive to “fail better.” Here are some excerpts from that discussion, which have been edited for clarity.

Who has had the greatest influence on you as a professional?

I could answer this from the professional side, but if people are reading this for something other than just the usual information about nonprofit leaders and they’re trying to understand the person behind the leadership, either to inspire them or give them insight as a human being, then I think it’s best to talk about the personal. It’s a hard one, but what I’ve learned in life is honesty is the only way to move forward.

I think, ironically, at the core of it all would be my father, because he was a man challenged by his own addictive and criminal behaviors. It’s a very painful story. He wanted very little to do with me unless I could be of use to him in some way. And in reaction to that, I have been fueled all my life by the hurt and anger over that, and the determination to prove that I am a value to others, if not to him.

So I have pushed myself hard to show up for whatever the task may be at hand and to accomplish whatever needs to be done. Because that type of emotional intensity drives me to be effective and make a difference for the better in any given situation.

Thus far, what have been the worst and best events in your life and what did those experiences teach you?

I would say that the best thing is an accumulation of many things that have been the journey itself. I know that the word “journey” has been bandied about a lot, but it’s the only word I can think of. My entire life has been a series of chance occurrences, but people have guided me and helped me each step of the way.

Because of that, I was able to get married and have two amazing, beautiful children. And though my ex-wife is a wonderful human being, the marriage didn’t work out, but again, it was all part of the journey, and it led me to meet the love of my life. Each day, I am keenly aware of how lucky a person I have been all along the way. So what it’s taught me is that it’s probably the gift of gratitude, and that’s been the best thing that has ever happened.

What if anything, keeps you up at night?

A lot of things keep me up at night, but right now, I seem to be thinking about the effects of mass trauma. And I say that because clearly, the pandemic has caused a lot of things to come into stark light with no curtains behind it, such as the lack of safety nets for people who, through no fault of their own, experienced loss of jobs, or unintended medical needs, or isolation. Then there’s a lack of access to solid, coordinated and trusted government resources for people wanting information. And then there’s the lack of support for families and their connections with one another. 

But I think more than anything, it’s that there is no real collective societal understanding of the upheaval in one’s life when trauma hits, and the lifelong consequences of that.

You read in the headlines about getting back to work, getting back to normal, getting back to fun, but how the trauma of the pandemic has impacted those who are fortunate to go back to normal and to those who can’t is being ignored because the answers are very complex, unruly, and not able to be solved with one-time initiatives.

Fear and depression, anxiety and loss—all these things are at a very heightened sense right now for a lot of people, and they will reverberate for many years to come. We’re expecting everyone to celebrate the end of the pandemic, whenever that comes, and go forth as if nothing happened. And so what can NYFA do to address trauma among those we serve, and especially how to secure the funding to do it is what really is keeping me up these days.

What is your philosophy of life?

That is a very big question. What I can say is that it wasn’t until I saw Samuel Beckett’s quote on “failing better” that I was able to understand myself and how I operate. [Beckett’s full quote: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better. You won’t believe what you can accomplish by attempting the impossible with the courage to repeatedly fail better.”]

With that quote in mind, I do believe that Sisyphus should keep pushing the rock upward, even though he knows nothing will change because maybe, just maybe, the gods will let him reach the top. And at the same time, I think that that particular exertion as a metaphor is meaningless if you’re not grounded in some type of love for someone or others, because—and this is to paraphrase F. Scott Fitzgerald when he wrote that famous letter about Zelda— love is “the beginning and end of everything.”

So my philosophy is to approach the hardness of life holding the hand of those you love, because with that love, you can discover wonders over and over again, no matter how difficult the terrain.

What is the biggest misconception about you?

I think that people think that I’m driven by my passion for the creative process, 24-7. And in some ways, that is true. But I also spend as much time as I can simply being quiet among the forest, or sitting and listening to the ocean waves, or admiring gardens. And I think that doing those things speaks more to me than anything else.

What was the last great book you read?

At the insistence of my son, who is 20 years old, I read “The Wretched of the Earth,” and it really made me think about the history of global oppression that’s been going on for centuries and why it’s so important that we pay attention to the conversations today concerning racism.

As a professional, what is the most important thing you tell young people who are thinking about making careers in the nonprofit sector?

I don’t know that I have anything new to add to that question other than what we already know, and that is that most nonprofits, unfortunately, are consistently understaffed and under-resourced, because they serve a charitable purpose, which, unfortunately, has a connotation to the public that nonprofit workers are not professionals and therefore should accept operating on shoestring budgets. I don’t know how to change that perception.

But until it is changed, anyone entering the nonprofit sector should be told that you will have to make economic sacrifices in jobs that place you in the role of the caretakers of societal needs—needs not being taken care of by those that have the resources, such as major corporations that make untold millions off of everyday consumers, often for necessary and basic things such as food.

To be a nonprofit worker means you are part of a sincere and committed sector seeking to better lives, to strengthen communities, to invest in the health of individuals, families and communities, and to act as change agents for a more equitable world. And for many people, including myself, that is worth more than the money itself.

What is one thing you would say to nonprofit leaders who are seeking foundation funding?

To remember that foundation officers are often in their jobs for the very same reason you are, and that is to be of service and to make a difference. They have a lot on their plates, and are often also understaffed and overwhelmed, despite their resources.

In the end, they are seeking nonprofits that do excellent work that fits within their priorities and yes, sometimes you do have to chase after them before they notice that’s what you are doing, but they are doing their jobs as best they can. And I think, above all, keeping a sense of humor helps a lot.

What makes you pessimistic about the future of philanthropy?

I think that our country is at the moment in the middle of a psychological and ideological civil war. And whatever side one is on seems to have no tolerance for the other, and sometimes I seriously wonder if we will ever come back to being able to hear another point of view or make compromises or work together.

One thing that foundations have always been able to do is establish frameworks and programs that can bridge opposing factors. And whether those factors are racial inequity or environmental destruction or political obstruction, philanthropy has been there to delve into those conversations and provide resources that open up solutions so that both sides can understand each other and communities can move forward. 

We’re at such a divisive point right now that I don’t know that dollars alone can work in the way they used to. And I think that sometimes foundations themselves are being asked to take sides and are criticized for doing the work they do, even if it’s very good work. So I just worry about our ability to work collectively in the state that we’re in.

What makes you optimistic about the future of philanthropy?

What happened during the pandemic itself. Normally, NYFA gives out $1-2 million in various grants to artists or arts workers in need. Artists were ... among the hardest hit, especially artists of color in terms of economic loss and opportunity, and the philanthropic community really came together to pool huge amounts of funding, so much so that many arts organizations—NYFA being one of them— were able to provide grants in a volume they never could before.

NYFA has distributed close to $21 million in emergency need—and again, our annual giving is about $1 to $2 million. So the delta between the $2 million and the $21 million, because of the consequences of the pandemic, really shows how valuable, important and life-saving philanthropy can be.