In the 2023-2024 school year, Youth in Arts proudly continued our multi-year partnership with San Rafael City Schools and West Contra Costa Unified School District, delivering a multidisciplinary arts education program to 5,000 students across nine schools on two sides of the Bay. By collaborating closely with partners like HeadsUp (San Rafael’s Public Education Foundation), Irene S. Scully Family Foundation, district leadership, parent teacher organizations, and school principals, we are dedicated to creating:
• Resource Sustainability: Maximizing the impact of our programs by strategically sharing resources, including funds from our own community of generous donors.
• Responsive Experiences: Developing culturallyresponsive, tailored programs that directly address the diverse needs of our students.
• Equitable Arts Ecosystems: Establishing a comprehensive arts curriculum that promotes shared learning experiences and amplifies student voice.
Our partnerships are crucial to driving equity and access to quality arts education. By minimizing the costs for schools, we are maximizing student and community impact.
PARTNER WITH EDUCATORS
Investing in our Teaching Artists is critical to the success of our programs. This year, we provided professional development for over 25 Teaching Artists, focusing on:
• Core Frameworks: Training in social-emotional learning, trauma-informed teaching, and universal design, always with students at the center.
• Collaborative Learning: Multiple collaborative sessions where TAs exchanged strategies and refined their curriculum development.
• Ongoing Support: A dedicated team of YIA Program Staff led discipline-specific cohorts in continuous professional learning throughout the school year.
Our dedication to professional development reinforces a strong foundation for our partnerships with schools, ensuring that our Teaching Artists are equipped to deliver impactful and responsive arts education.
Thanks to the support of our donors and funders, our partnerships are building an equitable arts bolstering community connections, advocating for improved arts access, and equipping teaching backgrounds and abilities to share
*cover photo credit: Luk Creative
PARTNER WITH COMMUNITY
Community engagement is at the heart of YIA’s mission. From our student-centered C Street Celebration, that offers FREE arts experiences to our community; our I AM (Intensive Arts Mentorship) Program that empowers teen artists to share their creative voice as the next generation of changemakers, we:
• Celebrate Student Voice: Our I AM model compensates teens as working artists, offering on ramps to creative careers, while the program’s Community Paint Days encourage our community to make their mark.
• Engage Families: The C Street Celebration features performances by YIA Teaching Artists and students, showcasing their artistic journey. 600+ attendees participate in multidisciplinary arts workshops that promote community connection and belonging.
• Promote Local Collaboration: YIA partners with various local organizations and sponsors, to build a healthy and inclusive community around the arts.
By offering free arts opportunities to the public, and paid arts opportunities for students, we actively seek to address significant disparities in the Bay Area, ensuring that all community members have access to the arts.
PARTNER WITH ADVOCATES
Partnering with advocates, including funders, is essential to improving access to equitable arts education for all students. Youth in Arts works closely with organizations like Create CA, Downtown San Rafael Arts District, and the California Arts Council to strengthen arts programs in schools and communities.
• Shared Vision: Collaborate with advocates to align our efforts, enhancing our arts programs to meet student and community needs.
• Resource Mobilization: Pool resources with funders to amplify our initiatives, ensuring greater access and support for students and schools.
• Community Advocacy: Engage advocates in outreach efforts to promote the importance of arts education and influence policy for equitable funding.
Advocating together, we can leverage resources, expertise, and networks to enhance our impact and ensure every student has the opportunity to thrive creatively.
arts education ecosystem in the Bay Area. By nurturing the creativity and resilience of our youth, teaching artists to deliver transformative arts experiences, we are empowering students of all their voice and achieve their goals!
PERSPECTIVES ON PARTNERSHIP
Our partners share a commitment to building a vibrant arts education ecosystem, highlighting the motivation behind their investment in our collaboration and its benefits for our students and community.
WITH SCHOOLS...
“Our partnership with Youth in Arts and HeadsUp is driven by a shared belief in the power of the arts to unlock potential and build resilience in every student. By working together, we’re delivering enriching and inclusive programs that reach all San Rafael students, especially those who might not otherwise have access to these experiences. This collaboration not only strengthens individual confidence and creativity but also builds a vibrant, supportive school community where every student has the tools to thrive.”
- Michelene Moayedi, Executive Director, HeadsUp Public Education Foundation
WITH EDUCATORS…
“Youth in Arts has values I uphold and a staff that inspires me with their dedication to the community. I am thrilled to be a part of the YIA village as we bring much-needed support to the community. The partnership between YIA and the school is tangible and this connection is felt by the students. I have partnered with the YIA music teaching artist, to collaborate on a culminating event that brings “buddy classes” together to share/present live music and dance. The collaboration between students in different grades, with one class playing music while another dances, creates a strong bond of trust and unity.
- Shahrzad Khorsandi, YIA Teaching Artist
WITH COMMUNITY…
“Partnering with Youth in Arts for our after-school programs was an easy decision. The largest benefits to our community have come from the complementary nature of our partnership - this partnership multiplies the impacts for students. The Expanded Learning Team and YIA came together to create murals at several of our schools. The final product of a stunning mural was secondary to the collaborative and thoughtful process. Families and students will see and love the murals for years to come, but for me, the story of the collaborative process and community effort is what exemplifies our partnership the most.”
- Mike Taylor, Expanded Learning Opportunities Coordinator, San Rafael City Schools
WITH ADVOCATES…
“Youth in Arts has been a valuable member of Create CA’s Arts Now program – a statewide network of arts education advocates. Youth in Arts is working to ensure all young people have access to culturally responsive arts education by eliminating barriers to participation in creative opportunities, collectively addressing educational inequities, and offering arts education that reflects and affirms students’ culture. The collaboration between YIA and San Rafael City Schools is a model for the state of how this partnership can function and flourish. I look forward to continuing the organizational relationship between YIA and Create CA in the coming years.”
- Adelaide Kuhn, Program Director, Create CA
The Power of Partnership: By the Numbers
HOURS of dance, music and visual arts
STUDENTS served in 30 week programs
ATTENDEES at our FREE C Street Celebration
SPECIAL DAY CLASSROOMS served for 10 weeks
TEACHING ARTSTS working with Youth in Arts
PERFORMANCES by `Til Dawn a cappella
EMERGING TEEN ARTISTS created…
COMMUNITY MURALS in our I AM Program
FINANCIALS* 2023-2024
$1,545,084
Total Revenue
$1,297,344
Total Expenses
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Jane Burkhard
Dr. Orin Carpenter
Tim Distler
STAFF
Devin Dixon
Lorenzo Jones
Kate Newsom Sarita Patel
Angela Rafner
Suzanne Reich Naomi Tamura Sheila Tuffanelli
Kristen Jacobson, Executive Director
Jose Carrasco, Director of Programs
Suzanne Joyal, Director of Accessibility & Inclusion
Every gift plays a critical role in empowering our students and community, to thrive through equitable access to the arts. For a comprehensive list, please visit our website: youthinarts.org/donors-and-yia-family
FOUNDATIONS / CORPORATIONS
Agricultural Institue of Marin
Allan Rappaport Charitable Foundation
Amazing Grace Music
Bank of Marin
Berke Family Foundation
BNI Network 54
Buck Family Fund
California Arts Council
Cannypoo
Capital Group
Chevron
Choral Singers of Marin
City of San Rafael
Cole Porter Society
Corny Foster Charitable Trust
Cowen Cares
Create California
Dandelion Foundation
Downtown San Rafael Arts District
F45 Training San Rafael Fenwick Foundation
Google
Groundflooor San Rafael
Harbor Point Charitable Foundation
Heffernan Foundation
Hobson/Lucas Family Foundation
Homestead Valley Community Foundation
Irene S. Scully Family Foundation
Joseph & Vera Long Foundation
Judy’s Automotive
Kimball Foundation
Lions Club of Corte Madera
Lions Club of Corte Madera
Marin Charitable
Marin Community Foundation
Marin MOCA
Marin Optometry
Mars Family Charitable Foundation
Meritas Wealth Management
Milton & Dorothy Sarnoff Raymond Foundation
National Endowment for the Arts
Pasha Group
Pledgeling Foundation
Prologis Foundation
Ragghianti Freitas LLP
Rempe Construction
Schneider Wallace Cottrell Konecky LLP
Laurel Graver & Scott Kaplan Trust
Seagate Properties
Shawe Family Foundation
Sherwin Williams Foundation
Snelling Charitable Fund
Studio 64 Marin
The Bronx Fund
The Faulkner Family Fund
Troutman Pepper
Walker Rezaian Creative Hearts Fund
Wells Fargo
William & Flora Hewlett Foundation
Wolfus Takada Family Trust
INDIVIDUAL DONORS OVER
$100
Anonymous
Holly Arnold
Calvin Arnold
Susan Bacheller
Steve Bajor
Rebecca Baldwin
Julie & Tom Ballard
Dennis Fiore & Scott Bankard
Peter Behr
Nancy & Luis Belmonte
Jennifer Birdsey
Lynne Boerio
Gregg & Dawn Bowman
Clint Bradford
Linda Breakstone
Lynn Brody
Faith Brown
Jane & Kurt Burkhard
Gabriella Calicchio
William & Lynn Callender
Sue & Joe Carlomagno
Orin & Mickele Carpenter
George Carver
Daniel Castor
Marica Chen
Lois & Steve Chess
Fran Halperin & Eric Christ
Stacee Christen
Catherine Cohen
Jane & Al Cooper
Jeanie Craig
David & Carla Crane
Shelby Cratcha
Angela & Art Curley
JOIN US IN EMPOWERING STUDENTS—DONATE TODAY TO MAKE A LASTING IMPACT!
Jen & Allan Daly
Henry Der
Tim & Jacqueline Distler
Sally Dominguez
Carmen Dowell
Shoshana Peters & Gib Dyer
Annie & Ramie Egan
Celeste Ezell
Richard Falk & Francine Falk-Allen
Axel Brait & Saskia Feast
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Judith Leedy
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Deborah Lynch
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Kate & Eric Newsom
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Allison Nygaard
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Caren Orum
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Sarita Patel
Joy & Jim Phoenix
Kelly Phu
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Sara Aminzadeh & Maxwell Pritt
Ingrid Purcell
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Angela & Josh Rafner
David Reich
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Jessica Reich
Katherine Renick
Guadalupe Reyes
Naomi Tamura & Ali Rezaian
Stephanie Robinson
Judi & Ed Roffman
Sandy Rolleri
Julie Ryan
Maryann Saltonstall
Marco EA Salvalaggio
Anna Sanders
Devin Dixon & Todd Schneider
Hilary & Monty Schmitt
Allison Schutte
Dawn Shalhoup
Judith Shapiro
Christine & Kevin Sharps
Suzanne Shelley
Kirsten Shilakes
Janine & David Simerly
Ingrid Skog Sato
Molly & Patrick Soong
Shirl Buss & Leslie Stone
Allen & June Tamura
Sheila Tuffanelli
Jennifer Walker
Kathy Waller
Fred Weed
Kathie Gaines & Ray Welch
Ellen White
Aubrey & Hazel Willacy
Michael & Danielle Wittenberg
Colette & Peter Wright
*due to space constraints, supporters up to $99 on website
