Eligibility & Criteria

Creative Youth Development (CYD) organizations that are working toward systemic change are eligible to apply. Additional requirements are: 

The youth in the organization: 

• Must primarily be in the age range of 6-21 years old.

• Must learn, create, and/or perform music for at least 50% of their overall program participation time.

The program/work: 

• Has been underway and/or in operation beginning in or before 2017.  

• Is an independent 501(c)(3) or has a partnership with a fiscal sponsor.

• Is in the United States or US territories, and the young people it serves reside in the US or US territories.

• Operates independently of schools/school music programs and operates outside of school hours.

• Provides consistent, ongoing participation opportunities for youth that sequentially build skills and relationships over time, ideally multi-year. (One time classes, short term workshops, and/or summer camps are not eligible.) 

• At least 40% of the Board of Directors and/or management staff reside in or represent the community served. 

Leaders* of the Organization:

• Are the author(s) of this Round 1 application.

• Have been in their role of leader at the organization beginning in or before 2020.

• Reside in the local community where the work/program is located.

*We are defining “leader” as someone who reports to and is solely supervised by the Board of Directors. For organizations that have more than one person reporting directly to the Board of Directors, the Leader Eligibility Requirements may be interchangeable between those leaders. Please contact TLPM for further clarification.