The Shout Syndicate Fund

Applications for grants are being accepted until June 30. Please click here to access the application.

The Shout Syndicate, raising funds for afterschool arts programming across Greater Boston, announces a new full granting round for the 2023-2024 academic year. The grant will be open on June 1, and applications will be due June 30, 2023.

Like its first pilot round in 2019, this opportunity will be open to all Creative Youth Development nonprofit organizations, with preference toward:

Those with a proven record of serving under-resourced youth
Those with an annual operating budget of $2M or under
Those in the Greater Boston area

About the Fund

The Shout Syndicate was formed in 2017 as a vehicle to develop new funders and supporters for Boston’s creative youth development ecology through the local for-profit performing arts sector and national field. This pilot grant program had the following objectives:

To provide grants to proven, high-quality creative youth development organizations in need of funding support for youth-centered programming.
To provide youth with the opportunity to create and produce artwork of their own making, with stipends provided so they can dedicate time during out-of-school hours.
Creative Youth Development organizations are those that “intentionally integrate creative skill-building, inquiry, and expression with positive youth development principles, fueling young people’s imaginations and building critical learning and life skills.” Creative Youth Development (CYD) programs see young people as active agents of their own change, with inherent strengths and skills to be developed and supported.

The following specific characteristics are essential in quality CYD programs:

Provide safe and healthy youth spaces;
Are assets-based;
Foster the development of positive relationships and social skills;
Are youth-driven;
Set high expectations for growth and learning; and
Address the broader context in which creative youth development operates.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

To learn more about The Shout Syndicate, visit www.theshoutsyndicate.com.

An information session will be held online June 6 at 11:00am, EST. Please register online here.

The Shout Syndicate Advisory Council
Ami Bennitt
Josh Bhatti
Tanya Donelly
Rahn Dorsey
Justine Faucher
Jeb Gutelius
Ralph Jaccodine
Mark Kates
Adam Klein
Joyce Linehan
Malik Williams

Grant Requirements

501c3 organizations located in Greater Boston;
Serving youth in high school, generally ages 15-21;
Artistic creation with youth at the center of the process;
Stipends based on minimum wage for participating youth;
Public sharing of work created at the conclusion of the program;
Programs will support both creative youth development and workforce development opportunities for youth;
Programs will work with a cohort of at least 3-5 youth;
Programs will operate from September to May or June but may propose continuing into the summer months;
Programs will provide programming for youth 6-8 hours per week over the 9-month period. However, programs can propose working with more youth for fewer hours per week or for fewer weeks (such as using a semester structure) to serve different groups of youth.

Funding Priorities

All disciplines (Theatre, Dance, Visual Art, Music, Literary Art, Media/Film);
Established CYD neighborhood-based organizations who prioritize working with youth who have had limited access to these types of out-of-school-time opportunities;
We seek organizations that work with a diverse set of recipients that reflect the population of the region.

An information session will be held online June 6 at 11am, EST. Please email Julia Gittleman for details at julia@mgaconsultants.com.

Pilot Grantees

In September 2019, The Shout Syndicate, in partnership with the Boston Foundation and the Mayor's Office of Arts & Culture, announced the 10 organizations selected to receive the pilot round of grants from The Shout Syndicate Fund. Each grantee received a $20,000 grant, to be used to create youth-led arts programs across Greater Boston. The grantees included:

Grantees and Donors of the Shout Syndicate — Grantees and donors pose together at the announcement of the 2019 grantees from The Shout Syndicate, which was held at the House of Blues, September 12, 2019. (Photo: Suzanne Oulette)

826 Boston
Cambridge Community Center
Hyde Square Task Force
OrigiNation Cultural Arts Center
Raw Art Works
Sociedad Latina
The Theater Offensive
Transformative Culture Project
Urbano Project
ZUMIX

Click here to read the grant announcement press release.

Partnership

Like its first, this new granting round is in partnership with Boston’s Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture’s Boston Creates long-term cultural plan.

Donors

The Shout Syndicate thanks all of its donors including Live Nation New England, The Bowery Presents, Broadway in Boston, the Foundation to Be Named Later, the Boston Foundation, Judd Apatow, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Frank Turner, and Letters to Cleo.