2023 ANNUAL REPORT
Our Mission and Vision
Our mission is to increase opportunities for youth to discover and amplify their talents, realize their potential, and impact the world through art, design, and technology. We envision a future where all young people in East Palo Alto have the opportunity to become creative innovators, and enjoy economic and social success in their community.
A Letter From our Executive Director
Dear Friend of EPACENTER,
With all of the heartbreaking tumult across the world, and challenges here at home, it is important to focus on solutions that have demonstrated their impact. EPACENTER has been a bright spot in our children’s lives, here in the historically disinvested community of East Palo Alto.
In 2023, EPACENTER continued to provide access to education, training, and workforce opportunities that spark the imaginations of East Palo Alto youth and prepare them for a future in creative fields Our youth built the perseverance, creativity, and technological skills needed to thrive!
We hope you enjoy learning about our accomplishments and are excited to see what more we will achieve in partnership with local youth and families in 2024.
Warm Regards,
Nadine Rambeau Executive Director
FACILITY IN EAST PALO ALTO
Over the past year, EPACENTER has become a thriving hub where young people from neighborhoods across the Peninsula come to participate in a range of engaging arts, tech, and wellness programs, at absolutely no charge. Our beautiful, 25,000-square-foot facility is fully equipped with an audio/video recording studio, maker space, immersive technology lab, art gallery, visual arts studio, dance studio, graphic design suite, black box theater, and more!
WE PROVIDED FREE ARTS EDUCATION FOR YOUTH AGES 6-18
For students ages 6-18, we offered arts education classes after school, on Saturdays, and during the summer in graphic design, audio and video production, piano, ballet, photography, guitar, digital drawing, and more. In addition to our regular roster, we added new technology classes in beat-making, audio engineering, and interactive art designed to grow students’ capacities in digital media.
We provided a weekday summer program, offering nine weeks of arts enrichment classes, four hours per day, throughout the summer. Over 200 unique students, ages 614, participated in classes like drumming, jewelry-making, cartooning, Latin hip-hop, piano, painting, and sculpture, receiving over 180 hours of arts and design instruction. Our classes helped students develop skills they will need in the future.
WE OFFERED HEALTH AND WELLNESS PROGRAMS
Through our culinary arts classes, middle and high-school-aged students also learned how to make healthy meals from around the world, delving into geography, history, and culture at the same time. Students then took the food they made home to their families, which reduced food insecurity. They developed their socialization skills, made new friends, found mentors, and became inspired to challenge themselves more than ever before!
WE PROVIDED ONSITE DAYTIME CLASSES FOR PUBLIC SCHOOL STUDENTS
Extending beyond our afterschool activities, we started offering school day programming in collaboration with KIPP Esperanza High School who bussed 70 students to our campus every week in the fall. The students took free classes in art, photography, music production, and culinary arts with professionals in every field.
WE SERVED AS A SAFE HAVEN FOR TEENS AND YOUNG ADULTS
EPACENTER provided a safe haven for youth during the critical afterschool hours of 3-7pm and weekends when young people were most in need of meaningful, structured activities. We filled a vital afterschool gap - approximately 25 hours per week - while kids were out of school and parents were at work.
Partnerships
During the summer, we created partnership with the City of East Palo Alto Community Services Department, which ran part of its nine-week summer program for youth at our facility. The purpose of the City’s program was to alleviate summer learning loss, provide a safe environment during critical hours during the day, and engage students in a dynamic learning environment.
In the fall of 2023, we continued our programmatic partnerships with two long-standing, EPA-based, cultural arts/youth-serving organizations Raíces de Mexico, a Ballet Folklorico dance company and Step It Up Dance, a dance company that focuses on African and African American cultural styles, and launched a partnership with Anamatangi Polynesian Voices, an intergenerational program in which Cultural Practitioners and youth leaders collaborate with youth on cultural storytelling, arts, and events. All three organizations held classes on our campus, bringing an additional 50 students every week to our site.
COMMUNITY EVENTS
EPACENTER hosted a series of wonderful, fun events for the East Palo Alto community!
In April 2023, we welcomed MacArthur Genius and NEA Jazz Master Award Winner, violin virtuoso, Regina Carter to a packed hall for an unforgettable fireside chat with EPA Mayor Lisa Gauthier. Former EPACENTER intern, Founding Youth Member, and current Board Member, Staci Edwards joined her on stage to share an original poem which Regina has now incorporated into future performances of Gone in a Phrase of Air!
In July 2023, we celebrated East Palo Alto's 40th anniversary with a great parade and block party during the Bay Area's first heat wave of the year! The strength and resilience of EPA shined through—and we're proud to honor the city’s heritage. The day began with a parade featuring a New Orleans Jazz Band, ending on Bay Road in front of EPACENTER, where a day-long street festival took place!
COMMUNITY EVENTS
In September 2023, we held a community concert featuring the fabulous LADAMA. This group of four women, virtuosic musicians and educators from different countries and cultures of the Americas, harness music from their respective countries of origin (Brazil, Colombia, Venezuela, and the United States) with a modern twist. An enthusiastic audience came together to dance to the rhythms in the autumn sun and celebrate National Hispanic Heritage Month!
In November, 2023 we co-sponsored the third annual Nonprofit Racial Justice Summit, co-hosted by Thrive Alliance and Silicon Valley Council of Nonprofits, with keynote speaker Angela Glover Blackwell. This vibrant in-person gathering brought together diverse changemakers, including nonprofit leaders, staff, board members, and cross-sector partners in government and philanthropic sectors, to champion racial justice and equity.
COMMUNITY EVENTS
EPACENTER hosted:
Two Student Showcases (May and Dec)
Two Gospel Choir Concerts (Nov and Dec)
A drumming performance by House of Samba Kids (Sept) and A vibrant hip hop performance by our partner, Step It Up Dance (Dec)!
Over 1,500 people attended EPACENTER's community events this past year.
WE LAUNCHED CREATIVE CORPS, WORKFORCE READINESS PROGRAM
With funding from the California Arts Council and the San Francisco Foundation, EPACENTER launched a new workforce development program, the EPACENTER Creative Corps, for young adults ages 18-25. This program provides opportunities for young adults to “earn + learn.”
Under the guidance of local, professional artists, 25 young adults are providing free marketing services, like website design and social media management, to local housing, environmental, and civic engagement nonprofits. The goal of the EPACENTER Creative Corps program is to fuel the collective power of creative changemakers to help build healthy, sustainable, and thriving communities.
WE EMPLOYED YOUTH FROM OUR COMMUNITY AS PAID INTERNS
In addition to classes, we employed 76 East Palo Alto youth, ages 14-25, as paid interns this year, providing them with critical job experience that they would not have gained otherwise. Taught by professional artists and makers-in-residence, the interns received personalized instruction while bringing much-needed income home to their families. Interns were employed in drone photography, music production, social media and marketing, event production, graphic design, filmmaking, and public art, often gaining more than 90 hours of experience per semester in their chosen field.
The interns’ projects included films, holiday cards, commercials, social media posts, events, and public murals – all of which the interns can use for job applications, portfolios, and college admissions. Our public art interns also got to see their work out in the community as one of their designs was installed at an affordable housing complex in East Palo Alto! Projects like these provide EPA youth with a chance to shape their city and express their creative agency.
WE DEEPENED OUR IMPACT IN 2023
For the students and interns enrolled in EPACENTER’s program alone, the impact of our work is evident in the feedback gleaned from their self-assessment surveys.
2023 Student Self-Assessment Survey Results
100% learned a new skill/art form
90% increased their creativity and innovation skills
89% Increased their ability to persevere through obstacles
86% improved their ability to focus 86% increased their ability to work in a team
2023 Intern Self-Assessment Survey Results
100% of interns said that they learned a new tech skill 100% would choose to take their EPACENTER internship again 92% say their internships helped them better connect to their community
LOOKING AHEAD TO 2024
In 2024, we will increase the number of students served, expand program offerings, host community cultural arts events, and launch neighborhood beautification projects in the City. Help us continue to support the youth and young adults of East Palo Alto!
