This August, Young Audiences welcomed 22 participants from 16 YA affiliates and arts organizations to Houston, TX for a 3-day meeting on leadership in the field of arts and education. Sponsored by the American Express Foundation and held in collaboration with YA of Houston, this year, participants gathered at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston to meet their peers from around the country, listen to and engage with thought leaders and non-profit executives, and work to better equip themselves to handle the unique challenges of the field. Now in its 3rd year, the Leadership Institute is one of the YA network’s most valuable programs, offering participants an opportunity to build a community of like-minded peers and mentors to serve as a resource throughout their careers.
Young Audiences of Houston helped us identify an incredibly talented and influential lineup of presenters, and the sessions they led provoked lively discussions that resonated well beyond the conference room to continue by the hotel pool and over dinner. For example, Brent Hasty, Executive Director of Austin’s MINDPOP, discussed leading collective impact initiatives, while Angela Seaworth, Founding Director of the Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership at Rice University, with Houston Grand Opera’s Sandra Bernhard, made a powerful case for identifying and fostering meaningful mentor relationships. Other conversations and workshops targeted working collaboratively with corporate partners, communicating using innovative technologies to craft an online identity, and using research and assessment to influence change in the field.
Participants in the YA Arts in Education Leadership Institute will continue to communicate with one another throughout the coming year, sharing their successes and challenges in an effort to strengthen their work and the work of those around them. Thanks to Southwest Airlines, participants will meet again this November in NYC for Young Audiences National Leadership Conference, where they will meet field leaders from around the country and deepen their connections to the community and to their peers.
Contributed by Anna Rosencranz, Development Manager
Young Audiences Arts for Learning would like to give thanks to:
