Project works to boost external success and increase those served
PASO ROBLES — Must! Charities’ Youth Arts Leadership Development Project will invest in professional development and training for Paso Robles Youth Arts Center (Youth Arts) staff and governing board during a time of exponential growth and demand for services. For over 25 years, Youth Arts has offered free after-school classes in the visual and performing arts to youth of all ages in a safe and nurturing environment. Over 700 students benefit annually from the center’s fifty weekly classes.
In recent years, Youth Arts has experienced exponential growth and ambitious and forward-thinking vision while simultaneously experiencing changes in leadership. At this pivotal juncture, they sought to secure professional development to organize, align and guide them through strategic growth strategies with a goal to position them to increase the capacity of those served.
“We recognized and admired their want to align staff and board’s visions for Youth Arts,” says Randy Gray, community projects manager at Must! Charities. “Embarking on this journey is not for the faint of heart, but from past experience, when Must! Charities invests in the people of organizations, there is no stopping the potential of organizations.”
The project supports Youth Art’s Board of Directors and staff to take them to the next level of success and sustainability as they navigate new leadership and transition from a working board to a governing board. The ultimate goal is for Youth Arts to walk away with a plan that outlines areas of need, strengths, and proposed steps and resources to continue forward progress. This work will also assist in building infrastructure that will serve Youth Arts as it fulfills its mission and prepares to achieve its financial goals and provide increased services.
“Studies show the earlier children are exposed to the arts, the greater the impact on their self-esteem, academic performance, and opportunities for growth,” says Becky Gray, Executive Director of Must! Charities. “We envision Youth Arts applying their innate ability to energize the passion of youth in arts with their strong desire to create future opportunities that they don’t yet know exist.”
