Impact Award Recipient: NIVA - National Independent Venue Association

NIVA’s mission is to preserve and nurture the ecosystem of independent venues and promoters throughout the United States.

The National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) and National Independent Venue Foundation (NIVF) are committed to equity in their support and advocacy for independent venues, and seek to create and encourage opportunities for venues, promoters, and festivals owned, operated, and staffed by people of color, women, non-binary, LGBTQ+, veterans, and people with disabilities. NIVA is committed to creating and upholding a safe space for its members where respectful conversations around diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEI) can continue to happen. NIVA and NIVF make an ongoing commitment to prioritize DEI initiatives and learn more about best practices and approaches to DEI in the live performance industry, and to provide resources and professional development opportunities to support NIVA’s members in doing the same for their individual businesses.

These entertainment hubs are critical to their local economies and tax bases as employers, tourism destinations, and revenue generators for neighboring businesses such as restaurants, hotels, and retail. Independent venues exist in every state across the country; they were the first to be closed, they will be the last to open. The economic recovery process will extend past just reopening the front doors, requiring solutions unique to the industry.