Accelerator Awards are open to Creative Youth Development (CYD) music organizations seeking to influence youth-serving systems so all young people have access to learning, creating, and performing experiences that reflect their culture and identity.
Donor Name: The Lewis Prize for Music
States: All States
County: All Counties
Territory: American Samoa, Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Guam, and U.S. Virgin Islands
Type of Grant: Award
Deadline: 06/02/2023
Size of the Grant: $15,000 to $75,000
Details:
Awards of up to $500,000 in multi-year support will be distributed for leaders and organizations to make sustained progress toward community change.
Benefits
Multi-year awards of $500,000 each will be awarded in January 2024. By applying for the Accelerator Awards, organizations are also eligible for funding ranging from $15,000 to $75,000.
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:
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- Has been underway and/or in operation beginning in or before 2018.
- 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 2021.
- Reside in the local community where the work/program is located.
- they 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.
For more information, visit 2024 Accelerator Awards.
