Gabriela Sanchez talks the Philadelphia Cultural Fund | Midday Break Room w/ Tiffany Bacon - 7.21.26

Gabriela Sanchez is the executive director for the Philadelphia Cultural Fund (PCF), a nonprofit grantmaking organization that supports Philadelphia's cultural vitality by providing equitable, sustainable, and unrestricted funding to community-based arts and culture organizations. On July 15th, PCF announced its FY26 grant recipients, awarding a record total of $5.6 million in funding across 322 organizations in a milestone year for equitable arts investment in Philadelphia. Supported by a combination of public and private funding, including a landmark partnership with the William Penn Foundation, PCF expanded its impact across the city by investing in organizations whose work strengthens communities, expands access to arts and culture, and advances equity. The grants are supported by a $5 million allocation from the City of Philadelphia's FY26 budget, alongside the first distribution of an $8 million grant from the William Penn Foundation. Together, these investments allowed PCF to pilot a new trust-based, community-informed funding model designed to strengthen sustainability and increase access to unrestricted operating support for organizations across the city. Gabriela joins the show to talk about the $5.6 million in funding PCF awarded to over 300 organizations in Philadelphia, and to also give her take on the current state of the arts & culture scene in Philadelphia.