Building Pathways to Equitable Funding for Creative Youth Development

Tuesday, October 23, 10:00am – 11:30am

Organized and moderated by Heather Ikemire, chief program officer, National Guild for community Arts Education.

Presented by Darren Isom, executive director, Memphis Music Initiative; Ashley Hare, executive director, Phonetic Spit; and Jessica Mele, program officer in Performing Arts, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation.

Creative Youth Development (CYD) is a new term that unifies a longstanding practice that intentionally integrates arts learning with youth development principles. CYD practitioners work primarily out of school and across the arts, humanities, and sciences. While some CYD programs have grown and diversified sources of financial support, the overall state of CYD funding is one of underinvestment, particularly for small and/or culturally-specific organizations. A national, collective impact strategy is underway to increase revenue sources and investment in CYD. In this interactive session, representatives from the CYD National Partnership’s Funding Action Team and Grantmakers for Education’s Arts Education Impact Group will share findings from a recent CYD funding mapping project and national field survey that identify current CYD funders and support systems at the national, state, and local levels. We’ll then break into small groups to examine how you can use this recent research and data to deepen knowledge and understanding of CYD in your own work as well as build a community of practice with other funders. As a participant, you’ll return home with new data, frameworks, models, and strategies for building more equitable pathways to CYD funding so that all young people can benefit.