Category: 2008

A dozen youth media nonprofit heads are better than one.
At least that’s what the consultants and funders would lead you to believe when they call for the formation of nonprofit youth media networks, as they have increasingly lately. But as any under-resourced, overtaxed nonprofit leader can attest, the benefits aren’t always worth the time and effort invested into joining their peers.
Yet with proper planning and execution, nonprofit youth media networks can create large scale social impact not possible by one organization working alone. This is especially critical given the increasing pressure for more networking and sharing from both within the field and from funders and external stakeholders. If networks are going to be established and cultivated, there are some basic preparatory tips that can make the experience useful and enjoyable for participants.
So What Are Nonprofit Networks?
Simply put, networks are sets of nodes and links that are connected to each other, according to Net Gains, a recently-released handbook on forming social networks for change.
Within the nonprofit world, social networks form when individuals connect within specific social contexts, according to Madeleine Taylor, co-author of Net Gains and principal at Arbor Consulting Partners. In this case, social networks forming around the idea of creating, producing or supporting youth media. Non-profit networking is gaining traction as a distinct research field, she said, and funders are mandating more and more networking. Youth media organizations are not immune.
Creating a network allows nonprofits to share costs and have a greater impact in advancing a social goal than going it alone, Taylor said in an interview. Networks bring together a variety of experiences and resources to tackle a common goal, such as infusing youth media into a school district’s curriculum or establishing a teaching fellowship for youth media practitioners.
There are three basic types of nonprofit social networks, according to Taylor:
• Connectivity Networks: These groups function to connect people and organizations to the information they need. Membership tends to be open to increase the flow of information and relationships.
• Alignment Networks: Serve to convene people around common values or language. For youth media, this could be a regularly meeting group of youth media teachers in a given city or region.
• Production Networks: Help convene groups or people to produce a specific outcome. For example, forming a virtual networking group of youth radio producers to create a documentary on a specific topic.
All of these networks can be conducted face-to-face, virtually or through a hybrid.
The Why of Non Profit Networks
Nonprofit youth media leaders form networks for a variety of reasons, whether it’s to satisfy a funder’s mandate, to achieve a specific policy goal or just share their daily struggles.
The networking movement gained a lot of buzz after the release of Diana Coryat (Global Action Project) and Steve Goodman’s (Educational Video Center) seminal 2004 white paper for the Open Society Institute on developing and professionalizing the youth media field. One of the main points—crystallized in both the paper and accompanying convening—is that the lack of networking and sharing is hampering the field’s ability to grow and professionalize.
“We need to establish an effective network—on the local, regional and national levels—that will move the field beyond simply information and resource sharing to collective knowledge building; a network where administrators and practitioners at the grassroots can help each other to make sense of, and to apply new knowledge coming out of the field and in turn, to contribute back to the field the new lessons they have learned,” Coryat and Goodman write. Joining together with peers, as the authors suggest, is a deliberate strategy to escape from one’s day-to-day work and think deeply about the field of youth media, alleviating some of the isolation many youth media groups report suffering from.
“The other level, beyond Dr. Phil’s group therapy, is that (a network) is also a place to challenge people to think more deeply,” said Jeremy Engle, manager of curriculum and instruction for the Youth Media Learning Network, a New York-based fellowship network of leading youth media practitioners.
Networks can also provide the time and opportunity for individuals to contribute in a larger way to the youth media field. According to Marianne Philbin, a Chicago-based consultant and co-facilitator of the McCormick Tribune Foundation’s Youth Voices Initiative network, one of the most frequents regrets nonprofit leaders have when they reflect later in their career is that there was never enough time or opportunity for them to contribute to the field in a larger way.
“So many organizations, because they are so burdened with day-to-day management, are unable to step outside their own headquarters as much as they like and really engage with the field as a field,” she said. “And yet these are the very same leaders who have enormous expertise or ideas and significant experience to share that can have a significant impact on the field of youth media.”
Then there’s the concrete: Networks are a great way to tackle organizational capacity issues like raising money better, improving distribution and bettering teaching practices. As an added bonus, forming a nonprofit youth media network can be a method to attract additional attention and funding.
“It’s a way to say to funders that we are more efficient, we’re going to have a greater impact, so think about funding us rather than funding individual organizations,” Taylor said. “You’re going to have a competitive advantage.”
All Shapes and Sizes
There are a variety of networks already chugging along, from virtual meet-ups to face-to-face gatherings that provide concrete examples of youth media coming together for mutual gain.
The Coalition of Youth Media Partners formed in Chicago this past year, aimed at joining a diverse mix of organizations and practitioners to build the field of youth media and improve youth literacy. Led by Phil Costello, executive director of Youth Communication, the group meets bimonthly at rotating locations to discuss issues of sharing content, promoting youth media and how to build ties between programs.
What started as a brainstorming meeting of 14 individuals in August 2007 has grown into a coalition of more than 35 organizations representing after school programs, non-profit organizations and in-school partners. In addition to meetings, the Coalition also provides e-newsletter updates of events, social mixers and is conducting a survey of membership to get a picture of the field in the city.
Further north, the Twin Cities Youth Media Network brings together 15 groups to promote and support youth media makers and educators. The membership-based group is supported by the Bush Foundation and provides social events, networking opportunities and a newsletter for members. Membership costs $25/year.
Networking isn’t always face-to-face. Generation PRX, for example, acts as an online social network that encourages the creation and distribution of youth radio pieces, said Jones Franzel, Generation PRX project director. Led by youth producers, the Web site collects youth radio pieces and encourages feedback by listeners. It also helps place youth-created audio on the air at professional public radio stations across the country.
Tips from the Field:
There are endless rationales for starting or joining a youth media network. But here are a few good starting tips from the pros if you do choose to join or start a network so you can avoid endless meetings and disappointing outcomes:
– Set clear groundwork expectations and structure: Though you don’t want to burden participants with too much structure – think countless meetings, requirements and follow-ups – it’s important for members to define exactly what the basic realistic obligations are for participating, whether it’s attending a meeting quarterly, posting regularly on a blog, etc. This will make the time requirements clear upfront. Engle, of the Youth Media Learning Network, notes that though participants may initially resist structure with agendas, they “really appreciate it after meeting two or three times.”
– Hone in the purpose of the network: No one’s going to solve all the ills of the youth media sector with a few breakfast meetings. It sounds basic, but set clear, manageable goals for what the network hopes to achieve, whether it’s hosting a local festival of youth-produced media or providing leadership training. “I think coming together and saying, ‘Now we’re going to be the Florida Youth Media Network and we are going to address every area like fundraising, development, and capacity building’ won’t work,” said Tim Dorsey, director of the Youth Media Learning Network.
– Have the tough conversations: Many youth media networkers report that there’s often a hundred-ton gorilla in the room—the prickly questions that the group needs to address in order to make progress and move forward. Whether it’s “defining” youth media or the role of social justice or artistic expression, it’s important to explore these issues in a respectful manner early on, but after the group has become comfortable as a unit. Avoiding these conversations can prevent a deeper, more meaningful connection among members and slow progress in meeting the network’s objectives.
– Make sure there are benefits of participation—and that they’re clear: Every network participant should be able to clearly define their top three goals for participating, Philbin advises. “It can’t just be purely altruistic like the abstract notion of betterment of the field,” she said. “How is it useful to members as individual nonprofit leaders? What are they going to take back that will help them with their day to day work?” If participants don’t know what they’re going to get out of it, they won’t participate and contribute regularly.
– Take the time to build trust: It sounds elementary and cliché, but successful networks are built on trust. Make sure to include informal networking time for members to get to know each other, especially in the beginning. At the Youth Media Learning Initiative, for example, they’ve built in that time for the participants to get to know each other before tackling the task at hand. With the fellowship running the entire school year, “You can’t immediately one day say when you start, ‘What the hell are you doing, and why?’,” Engle said.
– Accept that it will be slow: Nearly every practitioner and expert consulted advised that progress toward the network’s initial goal will happen much slower than expected. It’s the nature of networks. There tends to be a performance lag in networks with members who don’t know each other because it takes time to build that trust, Taylor said. Expect that, and don’t get discouraged.
– Think small: When starting a new network, it can pay off to start on a smaller, more informal scale, especially if there is no outside funding available. You can start with semi-regular breakfast meetings or a Facebook virtual group. “Building a network doesn’t have to be a million-dollar initiative,” Dorsey said. “It can be about as something as basic as an informal breakfast group or inter-organizational study group that happens on an occasional basis.”
– Be realistic about the administrative burden: Even the most informal networks take administrative nurturing, which takes time away from participants’ daily work. Be realistic about the administrative reality – and establish various volunteer roles to ensure meetings are held, participants are contacted and leaders are elected as needed, Philbin advises. “This may be the ‘tedious’ part of forming a network, but having basic infrastructure is key to the scope of work that collaboration requires,” she said.
– Consider a neutral facilitator or convener: When possible, selecting a neutral organizer or leader, whether a funder or intermediary youth media organization, can take away perceived competitiveness or benefit among participating members. Generation PRX, an online youth radio exchange, aims to do just that by connecting a variety of youth radio producers virtually from across the country. “People can trust that we’re really motivated by promoting the entire field,” Franzel said. “Sometimes if it’s a single group, there’s a perception that one group reaps the benefits.”
– Snacks: And finally, everyone reported that with face-to-face meetings, having snacks is correlated directly with increased attendance. So don’t forget the pretzels.
For more tips and resources on successful networks, check out:
– NET GAINS: A Handbook for Network Builders Seeking Social Change, Version 1.0 (2006). By Peter Plastrik and Madeleine Taylor. Available for download at: http://www.in4c.net/index.asp?lt=net_gains_download.
– The Barr Foundation: Based in Boston, this Foundation has a thorough section on Networks in its Resource page. www.barrfoundation.org.
– Movement as Network: Connecting People and Organizations in the Environmental Movement. By Gideon Rosenblatt. Provides an interesting case study of social networking in the environmental movement. Available for download at: http://www.onenw.org/toolkit/movementasnetwork-final-1-0.pdf.
– Developing the Youth Media Field: Perspectives from Two Practitioners (2004). By Diana Coryat and Steve Goodman. Available for download at: http://www.soros.org/initiatives/youth/articles_publications.
Sara Melillo is a journalism program officer for the McCormick Tribune Foundation in Chicago, Illinois. The Foundation’s journalism program invests in organizations working in News Leadership, Free Speech, Journalism Education and Youth Media. www.mccormicktribune.org.
Note: Marianne Philbin co-facilitates the Foundation’s Youth Voices Initiative Network, a network of Chicago-area youth media grantees.

Giving young media makers access to cameras and training is important, but exposure to a larger body of non-traditional films opens up the ways stories can be told and examined with a critical and creative lens. Unfortunately, for all of the youth media community’s work towards developing media literacy and enabling students to harness their voices—we sometimes forget that we need to be developing audiences as well. Presenting films to engage young people to respond and be critical viewers is one of the most important ways to inspire creativity and to leave a meaningful impression through our work with young media makers.
Appreciating the ‘Alternative’ Film
Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) presents a monthly screening series for New York City high school students every year. A few months ago, I was screening Black Orpheus to 130 of these teens. During the Q&A following the showing, I realized that somewhere in the second act I had lost my audience. They were restless and bored—far from my intended results. At that moment, I realized something crucial. Students were so bored by the film because watching it was an entirely foreign experience—it greatly differed from their understanding of film viewership that they simply couldn’t or just weren’t interested in connecting. The experience solidified that film education is a partnership between actively making and reading/critiquing films.
My experience was not unusual per se. Students are accustomed to casually being shown documentaries and “old” films in the classroom as a learning aid for a history lesson or as a diversion when the classroom teacher needs a moment to get some other work done. Perhaps this is why students think of films that are shown “educationally” as boring, dry and divorced from their own experiences of the world.
Within youth media, there is a large focus on getting students to tell their stories, often with an emphasis on using the documentary format. Many times, the only reference points students have to this type of filmmaking are the talking-head infused, straight-laced (and often very educationally important) documentaries that are shown in the classroom.
The reality is that youth are, and always have been, interested in breaking boundaries outside of what adults tell them is of value. But without seeing avant-garde, alternative films, students are so accustomed to what they generally consume on television or feature films, that when they are given access to tools to make their own films they have only a few examples of storytelling techniques in their pocket. The beginning of any artistic endeavor generally involves mimicking that which we have been exposed to and it is very hard to create films that parallel the Hollywood aesthetic on a tight budget.
As educators, if we aren’t showing young media makers films that shift paradigms and break boundaries, how can we possibly create a core of young filmmakers to develop into adults who will?
As educators, we can get young media makers to understand and enjoy different kinds of films—those that tell stories in unique and nontraditional ways. And in so doing, we give them a chance to develop range, breadth and depth in the kinds of films that they make. Exposure to non-traditional films encourages young filmmakers to be more informed, active audiences and thus, more creative in making new media.
Exposure to Limitless Possibilities
Because young people are drawn to non-mainstream, subversive films, independent screenings can provide young people examples of limitless possibilities to create film beyond the mainstream and effectively tell their stories. For example, TFI recently screened Big Mouth’s Arctic Son and Matt Ruskin’s The Hip Hop Project. Both are documentary films but not standard fare.
Unlike Black Orpheus, students are ready for a film like Arctic Son, which is equally challenging for a 15-year-old. Artic Son is about a young Native American who struggles with alcohol and making good decisions in a traditional native community. The parallel to the current struggles of many young people with the themes in Artic Son expose media makers to strong and personal narratives that can be shot both artistically and metaphorically.
The documentary, The Hip Hop Project (HHP) helped students realize that a documentary need not be boring or fit a standard model. Because HHP is a film that is visually sophisticated, non-traditionally shot and narrative, young people have a point of reference to understand how the filmmaker bucked convention and thus, utilize such ideas in their own work.
Building an Audience
It is essential that as media educators cultivate students we pay greater attention to the fact that though they may not all become filmmakers, they will certainly buy movie tickets for years to come. One of the greatest gifts that we can give to youth media makers are the tools to be an informed viewer—to know what is available, to locate where these films exist, and to hold a cache of references which help to enlighten new filmic experiences. And if they do become filmmakers—the more they see, the more effectively they will be able to use their own voices.
There are so many ways that youth media educators can expose their students to exciting, non-traditional films and filmmakers. There are infinite resources that provide free screenings, lend films, or discount tickets for groups at small reparatory houses. Nearly every city, and increasingly more outlying areas, have museums with film programs; revival house cinemas and there are organizations like Human Rights Watch, American Documentary/P.O.V or Arts Engine that can provide educators great films to show students. And, of course, there is Netflix!
In addition, educators have so many different (and inexpensive) options for showing their students a newer, fresher film 101 curriculum. All you need is a DVD player, time, and a critical, engaging eye. Even if this falls outside the schedule of youth media programming, introducing film screenings to critique with a Q&A can spur young people to continue to organize screenings of their own.
A Critically Aware Media Future
We cannot encourage students to think outside of the box without showing them what actually is outside of the box. If youth media educators support a critically aware and media literate generation of young people, the media youth produce will be more apt to counteract the messages in the mainstream. As we develop this young audience, we arm them with ideas about their world, spaces to develop their sense of self, and the endless possibilities of expression using film. The more informed our future audiences are, the more room there will be for films that don’t fit the mainstream model and encourage an engaged, creative, and critically vocal generation.
Lisa Lucas currently runs the Tribeca Film Institute Youth Programs, which annually serves over 4,000 NYC students with pre-professional development, hands-on filmmaking training, screenings and in-school arts programs. Before her work with TFI, Lisa worked at Steppehwolf Theatre Company and TADA! Youth Theatre. Lisa is a graduate of the University of Chicago and serves as the NYC chair of its alumni film club. www.tribecafilminstitute.org

For those in the field that will be in NYC the evening of Wed. March 19th, from 6-8 pm join 100 youth media practitioners, media organizations, foundations, academics and supporters of youth media as we celebrate the first annual print journal of Youth Media Reporter.
Drink wine and enjoy hors d’heurves, get a free copy of the journal (available only in this year), win a free subscription to 2009’s issue, meet our 13 person peer review board, and toast this year’s success at the Academy for Educational Development 100 Fifth Ave, 8th Floor.

By Mindy Faber
Over the last few decades, the proliferation of low cost digital media production tools has given rise to an expanding number of after-school programs that use digital media to engage young people in art, organizing, journalism, citizenship and leadership development. The explosion of this this new media is redefining how youth learn, create, and participate in the public sphere.
Although the issue of youth and their relation to the media is taking on a new sense of urgency among educators, policy-makers and social researchers, especially in the context of the recently proposed 21st Century Community Learning Center budget cuts, research on the topic is still difficult to find.
Featuring the work of the MIT/MacArthur Foundation Digital Media and Learning Initiative, Center for Media Justice, Pew Internet and American Life Project, Free Expression Policy Project, Open Society Institute, Stuart Foundation, and many more, some of the topics researched in the body of work, housed together for the first time, include:
–Findings on the positive impact of after-school programs, the budget for which President Bush has recently proposed a cut of over 50%, despite findings which prove they bring about greater parental involvement in school, student engagement, and student commitment to homework
–An analysis of how young people are using new media to participate in the electoral process
–A study of the digital divide between immigrant youth and their native-born peers
–An examination of policy concerning intellectual copyright, network neutrality, and radio deregulation, each of which give shape to young people’s ability to access information and participate in mainstream discourse
–Case studies of effective youth media programs within the United States and abroad
To access this collection, please visit: http://www.issuelab.org/closeup
To add your nonprofit organization’s research to Issuelab (a free service), please visit:
http://www.issuelab.org/rc_accounts/start
To read, review, and comment on works of research in our archive, and to sign up for issue-specific rss feeds, please visit:
http://www.issuelab.org/accounts/create
To subscribe to Issuelab’s monthly eNews, please visit:
http://www.issuelab.org/enews
IssueLab is an online publishing forum for nonprofit research. Our mission is to more effectively archive, distribute and promote the extensive and diverse body of work being produced by the third sector. For more information, please contact Sarah Macaraeg at 312-315-8476 or sarah@issuelab.org; or visit www.issuelab.org.

An intensive intergenerational workshop to encourage and sustain visionary leadership in the arts.
June 8-12, 2008
Silver Falls Conference Center located in the forested foothills of Oregon’s Cascade Mountains
Are you interested in strengthening your peer network? NAMAC’s Leadership Institute will support you in renewing your energy and strengthening your leadership abilities.
The NAMAC Leadership Institute is an intensive intergenerational workshop designed to encourage and sustain visionary leadership in the arts. Time is built in for reflection, networking with peers, and enjoying a beautiful wooded setting at the foothills of Oregon’s Cascade Mountains. Designed for staff leaders at all levels in NAMAC member organizations, the Institute offers the opportunity to:
Increase awareness of your leadership strengths, challenges and opportunities.
Appreciate the gifts and preferences of younger / older colleagues and anticipate the impact of generational differences on your organization.
Identify actions you can take to help sustain your organization long-term.
Identify and practice key leadership skills for working with change.
Broaden your network of peer support for continuing learning and collaboration.
For more information, go here.

Entertainment Software Association Foundation offers funding for Youth Programs (DEADLINE: April 15, 2008 ). Grants will be awarded to nonprofit organizations providing programs in personal development, health awareness, risk behavior prevention, education, and media arts to youth between the ages of 7 and 18. The foundation seeks to harness the collective power of the interactive entertainment industry to create positive social impact in America’s communities. The interactive entertainment industry supports geographically diverse projects and programs that benefit American youth of all races and denominations and both genders. More details here.