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 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 2016.  

  • Is an independent 501(c)(3) or has a partnership with a fiscal sponsor. (not necessarily established in or before 2016)

  • 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.) 

  • Addresses opportunity gaps and/or circumstances of marginalization (through systems change) for the young people served, and at least 50% of youth served come from historically marginalized circumstances.

  • At least 30% 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 2019.

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

  *We are defining “leader” as someone who reports directly to 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.