YR Media

YR Media, formerly known as Youth Radio, is a media education and production company that promotes equal opportunities, self-expression, and creative industry readiness for youth in Oakland. This organizational effectiveness grant supports internal capacity building to deepen the organization’s awareness, knowledge, skill, policies and practices around equity, inclusion, and diversity. Strengthening an organizations’ equity-focused competencies supports its practices and outcomes and contributes to a Bay Area arts ecosystem that has examined and reflects an understanding of equity in the arts. Support for YR Media advances the Performing Arts Program’s Youth strategy and Program Delivery substrategy.

YR Media, formerly known as Youth Radio, is a media education and production company that promotes equal opportunities, self-expression, and creative industry readiness for youth in Oakland. Each year, YR Media works with approximately 250 young people between the ages of 14 and 24, 90% of whom are youth of color. The organization’s training programs, wellness resources, academic and career advising, seven unique brands and platforms, and national media broadcasting partners help develop and amplify underrepresented perspectives in media. Support for YR Media supports the Performing Arts Program’s Youth strategy and Program Delivery substrategy.

Based in downtown Oakland, Youth Radio is one of the nation’s premier youth-media training and development organizations. With a focus on creating career and education pathways for youth, Youth Radio participants and paid interns produce award-winning multimedia content and live performances that fuse journalism, the arts, and technology innovation to engage local and national communities. The 300 youth served annually are predominately low-income, of color, and system engaged. To support the unique needs of this group of young people, Youth Radio provides intensive wrap-around services, including case management, health and nutrition services, and employment and academic advisement to bolster youth success. Media produced by youth reach 22 million listeners nationwide, and local performance events reach audiences of 5,000 annually. First-time Hewlett Foundation support would assist Youth Radio in strengthening and formalizing Arts Pathways, its cornerstone introductory youth engagement programming, which teaches standards-based hip-hop arts and media production. During the grant period Youth Radio intends to create a community engagement and marketing plan to maximize the value of its youth-led storefront arts space, 1719 Broadway, and further develop its arts curriculum.