Members-only resource beginning August 14, 2025.
This webinar was recorded on Wednesday, February 12, 2025.
Investing in our youth empowers the leaders of tomorrow. The Community Music Center of Boston (CMCB) established the Youth Employment Program (YEP) to cultivate the potential of the next generation of arts leaders. This program offers young people invaluable hands-on work experience within an arts administration nonprofit, equipping them with transferable skills for success in any field. Hear from a current Youth Employee about their journey and aspirations within Boston's creative sector, while we explore CMCB's philosophy on youth workforce development and envision the future of this vital work for arts education organizations.
Presenters:
Joi Harper, CMCB Marketing & Communications Manager, Youth Employee Supervisor, Former Youth Employee
Taylor Rogers, CMCB Youth Development Manager
Lecolion Washington, CMCB Executive Director and Youth Employee Supervisor
Annie Yuan, CMCB Youth Employee
Members-only resource beginning August 14, 2025.
This comprehensive session, led by Tom Clareson and Jan Newcomb of Performing Arts Readiness (PAR) project, covers the importance of developing a robust emergency response plan, identifying potential risks and vulnerabilities, implementing effective crisis communication strategies, coordinating with local emergency services, and sharing resources for recovering and rebuilding after a disaster.
Speakers:
Tom Clareson, Project Director, Performing Arts Readiness (PAR) project
Jan Newcomb, Performing Arts Coordinator, Performing Arts Readiness (PAR) project
Members-only resource beginning August 14, 2025.
In a world of rapid leadership transitions and a shifting fiscal landscape, organizations are finding new ways to collaborate that promote organizational and artistic sustainability. Community arts organizations are already brilliant at artistic collaboration, and this session will move the conversation forward. Join members of the Sustained Collaboration Network as they share models for administrative and structural collaboration, including shared staff, co-location, asset transfers, and mergers/acquisitions.
Speakers:
Karen LaShelle, Executive Director, Austin Together, Austin, TX
Kate Piatt-Eckert, Mission Sustainability Initiative Director, Forefront, Chicago, IL
Steph Gilmour, Associate, SeaChange, New York, NY
Olivia Benson, Chief Operating Officer, The Forbes Fund, Pittsburg, PA
Otha Cole, Director of Strategy and Communications, Nonprofit Sustainability Initiative, Los Angeles, CA
In this sponsored webinar with Instrumentl, whether you're looking to refine your strategy, better align grant seeking with your organization's mission, or simply win more grants, you’ll leave this session with 3 proven strategies to elevate your funding approach.
Learning Objectives:
1) Learn the ROI framework to integrate grant seeking into the broader organizational strategy, ensuring alignment with mission, vision, and long-term goals
2) Narrow down on five key questions for grants that align with your organization's strategic goals to prioritize opportunities and minimize time wasted on unlikely prospects
What is Instrumentl?
Instrumentl makes grant work effortless by bringing prospecting, tracking, and management to one place. Instrumentl currently helps more than 4,000 nonprofits and grant consultants save time in finding and applying for more grants. Members of the National Guild get two months off any annual plan with code NATIONALGUILD2MOANNUAL (valid for new customers only).
Learn more at instrumentl.com/r/NationalGuild.
Members-only resource beginning August 14, 2025.
Susan Magsamen’s work lies at the interdisciplinary intersection of science, art, and aesthetic experiences. Her presentation will explore the science of neuroaesthetics, the study of how the arts and aesthetic experiences measurably change the brain and body and how this knowledge can be translated into practices that advance health, wellbeing, learning, flourishing, and community development. The science of the arts is providing groundbreaking research and practical applications emerging at an unprecedented pace supporting communities to heal, learn and thrive.
About the speaker: Susan Magsamen is the founder and executive director of the International Arts + Mind Lab (IAM Lab), Center for Applied Neuroaesthetics, a pioneering neuroaesthetics initiative from the Pedersen Brain Science Institute at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In addition to her role at IAM Lab, she is the co-director of the NeuroArts Blueprint project in partnership with the Aspen Institute. She is also the author of Impact Thinking, an interdisciplinary translational research model, and co-author of the New York Times Bestseller, Your Brain on Art: How the Arts Transform Us written for the general public. Susan’s work focuses on how the arts and aesthetic experiences measurably change the brain, body and behavior and how this knowledge can be translated to inform health, wellbeing and learning programs in medicine, public health and education.
Learn more about membership
About this Session
A three-part series of “Real Talk Salons” regarding Human-Centered Practices in community arts education took place throughout the three weeks of the Groundwork: Healing within Community Arts Education (“Groundwork”) program in the fall of 2021. In response to the pandemic, the overarching themes of Groundwork sessions touched on healing. This Real Talk Salon, entitled “Centering Equity Includes Our Own Wellbeing”, brought together the following community practitioners in conversation with one another:
Moderator:
Storytellers:
Description: Join in on a panel that opens with stories from each panelist: Ashley Frith and Sarah Kim will share stories from their healing-centered equity and belonging work, through a mindfulness-based anti-racist practice and embodiment; Aimee Espiritu and Mika Lemoine will share their inquiry practices and reflections on “Who holds space for the space-holders? Do you find yourself in constant conversations or heavily invested in shifting your spaces toward equity?”
This session took part the first week of the program and was held on October 20, 2021, with American Sign Language interpretation provided by Pro Bono ASL.
About the Groundwork Program
Groundwork was a 3-week virtual gathering that centered healing in the context of community arts education, as a pathway towards personal, interpersonal, and systemic change, informed by the idea that we must get right with ourselves before we can work with each other to reimagine and create a more just future. To that end, Groundwork’s themes unfolded each week as: Healing for Self (Week 1), Healing for Collective (Week 2), and Healing for Movement Building (Week 3).
For more information about the gathering, please visit the program details, here.
This program was made possible through generous support from Aroha Philanthropies, The Music Man Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
About this Session
A three-part series of “Real Talk Salons” regarding Human-Centered Practices in community arts education took place throughout the three weeks of the Groundwork: Healing within Community Arts Education (“Groundwork”) program in the fall of 2021. In response to the pandemic, the overarching themes of Groundwork sessions touched on healing. This Real Talk Salon, entitled “Centering Black Learners & Educators”, brought together the following community practitioners in conversation with one another:
Moderator:
Storytellers:
Description: Join in on a panel that opens with stories from each panelist: Melissa Parke will recount her Afrocentric SEL framework that seeks to engage arts educators from all disciplines to incorporate and prioritize the empowerment of Black youth in their teaching practices; Purple S. Norris will share how she accepted the call to be responsive, accountable and unreasonable on behalf of communities disproportionately impacted with her program, “Continuing the Cipher” by using creativity, transformation and Hip Hop culture; Gregory Greer, Marina Nir, and Katikka Harris will touch on how Mad Beatz Methods works to recruit, retain, and center Black teachers in school music programs.
This session took part the second week of the program and was held on October 27, 2021, with American Sign Language interpretation provided by Pro Bono ASL.
About the Groundwork Program
Groundwork was a 3-week virtual gathering that centered healing in the context of community arts education, as a pathway towards personal, interpersonal, and systemic change, informed by the idea that we must get right with ourselves before we can work with each other to reimagine and create a more just future. To that end, Groundwork’s themes unfolded each week as: Healing for Self (Week 1), Healing for Collective (Week 2), and Healing for Movement Building (Week 3).
For more information about the gathering, please visit the program details, here.
This program was made possible through generous support from Aroha Philanthropies, The Music Man Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
About this Session
A three-part series of “Real Talk Salons” regarding Human-Centered Practices in community arts education took place throughout the three weeks of the Groundwork: Healing within Community Arts Education (“Groundwork”) program in the fall of 2021. In response to the pandemic, the overarching themes of Groundwork sessions touched on healing. This Real Talk Salon, entitled “Hold a Light to the Arts Education Ecosystem”, brought together the following community practitioners in conversation with one another:
Moderator:
Storytellers:
Description: As we realign and redefine how we work within the unpredictable and all-encompassing pressures of Covid and make space for the world that emerges in its wake, it is imperative that we also come to terms with the illusions of what was once our "normal". How do we reckon with the inequitable systems upon which our field was built and has adapted, and how might we reshape it for our holistic well-being, as workers and as community members ourselves? Join us in this Real Talk Salon amongst community arts education practitioners who represent experiences from multiple vantages and functions within the community arts education ecosystem: as independent artists & teaching artists, as arts administrators, city arts council staff members, and as foundation personnel.
This session took part the last week of the program and was held on November 4, 2021, with American Sign Language interpretation provided by Pro Bono ASL.
About the Groundwork Program
Groundwork was a 3-week virtual gathering that centered healing in the context of community arts education, as a pathway towards personal, interpersonal, and systemic change, informed by the idea that we must get right with ourselves before we can work with each other to reimagine and create a more just future. To that end, Groundwork’s themes unfolded each week as: Healing for Self (Week 1), Healing for Collective (Week 2), and Healing for Movement Building (Week 3).
For more information about the gathering, please visit the program details, here.
This program was made possible through generous support from Aroha Philanthropies, The Music Man Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
About this Session
Each week of Groundwork: Healing within Community Arts Education (“Groundwork”) began with a General Assembly to open the weekly theme. In keeping with the first week’s theme of Healing for Self, this session includes an interactive breath and sound practice, "Heart-Led Presence", with Ashley Frith. Afterward, Groundwork Advisors who shaped the program share their intentions and hopes for the gathering. Lastly, our Featured Storyteller, Kwayera Archer, tells her story of self-healing and how it led to her becoming stronger, more compassionate, and joyful.
This session was held on October 18, 2021, with American Sign Language interpretation provided by Pro Bono ASL.
Week 1 | General Assembly on Healing: Healing for Self
Session Presentations
- Grounding Practice: “Heart-Led Presence” with Ashley Frith (Director of Racial Equity and Belonging, Community MusicWorks)
- A Message from Groundwork Advisors with Ashley Hare, Calida Jones, Karla Estela-Rivera, Paula Ortega, and the Guild’s Director of Conferences and Learning, Ivy Young
- Featured Storyteller: “Journey to Self Healing and Growth in the Midst of Supporting Community Transformation” with Kwayera Archer (Principal & Chief Visionary Officer, Global Ase)
About the Groundwork Program
Groundwork was a 3-week virtual gathering that centered healing in the context of community arts education, as a pathway towards personal, interpersonal, and systemic change, informed by the idea that we must get right with ourselves before we can work with each other to reimagine and create a more just future. To that end, Groundwork’s themes unfolded each week as: Healing for Self (Week 1), Healing for Collective (Week 2), and Healing for Movement Building (Week 3).
For more information about the gathering, please visit the program details, here.
This program was made possible through generous support from Aroha Philanthropies, The Music Man Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
About this Session
Each week of Groundwork: Healing within Community Arts Education (“Groundwork”) began with a General Assembly to open the weekly theme. In keeping with the second week’s theme of Healing for Collective, this session begins with a Grounding Practice by Mylene "r.a.d. Leng Leng" Cahambing in which she shares her story of resistance in connection with seafaring ancestral wisdom and leads us through a Bisayan islander song and dance in honor of our sacred, precious human lives. Lastly, a Groundwork Advisor, Karla Estela Rivera, moderates a dynamic conversation amongst community arts education practitioners who center collective healing and community care in their work and with tremendous heart.
This session was held on October 25, 2021, with American Sign Language interpretation provided by Pro Bono ASL.
Week 2 | General Assembly on Healing: Healing for Collective
Session Presentations
- Grounding Practice: “Bugsay, Bugsay (Paddle, Paddle): Water ~Reconnect ~Align ~Transform ~Heal” with Mylene "r.a.d.” Leng Leng Cahambing (
- A Message from Groundwork Advisor Karla Estela-Rivera
- Featured Storytellers: “Collective Healing, Care, and Community Arts Education” with William Estrada (artist & Faculty, UIC School of Art & Art History), M. Carmen Lane (founder/director, ATNSC: Center for Healing & Creative Leadership), Coya Paz (Artistic Director, Free Street Theater & Interim Dean, The Theatre School at DePaul University), in conversation with Karla Estela Rivera (Executive Director, Free Street Theater)
About the Groundwork Program
Groundwork was a 3-week virtual gathering that centered healing in the context of community arts education, as a pathway towards personal, interpersonal, and systemic change, informed by the idea that we must get right with ourselves before we can work with each other to reimagine and create a more just future. To that end, Groundwork’s themes unfolded each week as: Healing for Self (Week 1), Healing for Collective (Week 2), and Healing for Movement Building (Week 3).
For more information about the gathering, please visit the program details, here.
This program was made possible through generous support from Aroha Philanthropies, The Music Man Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.
