From Programs to Advocacy:

A Vicious or Virtuous Cycle?

Tuesday, October 20, 9:30 am – 11:00 am

Organized by Richard Kessler, executive director, The Center for Arts Education.

Presented by Richard Kessler; Marsha Dobrzynski, executive director, Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio; Cyrus Driver, deputy director, Education, The Ford Foundation; Bill Easton, executive director, The Alliance for Quality Education.

With an increasing interest in arts education advocacy, many questions remain about the nature of advocacy, and of the organizational capacities necessary to undertake this work in a field that has been dominated by programmatic approaches.

This session will examine what effective public education advocacy looks like in mature advocacy organizations, the nature of emerging advocacy in arts education organizations, the requisite and substantial organizational transformations required to undertake this work, and consider whether organizations can blend traditional programs with advocacy to create a new, authentic and powerful approach to this work.

Cyrus Driver, Deputy Director for Education at The Ford Foundation will moderate this session. Panelists will include Marcia Dobrzynski, Executive Director of Young Audiences of Western Ohio, Billy Easton, Executive Director of The Alliance for Quality Education, and Richard Kessler, Executive Director of The Center for Arts Education (New York).

Related Links:

Why Supporting Advocacy Makes Sense for Foundations, The Atlantic Philanthropies
What Makes an Effective Advocacy Organization, The TCC Group (.pdf, 5.8Mb)
The Urban Youth Collaborative
The New York City Coalition for Educational Justice
Organized Communities, Stronger Schools, The Annenberg Institute for School Reform (.pdf)
Arts Education Action Network
Arts Education Parent Guides
Arts Education Bill of Rights
Young Audiences of Northeastern Ohio
Why We’re Behind, What Top Nations Teach Their Students But We Don’t, Common Core (.pdf)
Dewey21c—Richard Kessler on Arts Education