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Heard Em Say Youth Arts Collective, Inc. Project Title: General Program Support 2021 Grant Number: 21.c.ps.114.595 Date Submitted: Monday, June 24, 2019

A. Cover Page Page 1 of 10

Guidelines

Please read the current Guidelines prior to starting the application: 2021-2022 General Program Support Grant Guidelines

Application Type

Proposal Type: Discipline-Based

Funding Category: Level 1

Discipline: Multidisciplinary

Proposal Title: General Program Support 2021 B. Contacts (Applicant Information) Page 2 of 10

Applicant Information

a. Organization Name: Heard Em Say Youth Arts Collective, Inc. b. FEID: 82-3452434 c. Phone number: 321.431.8569 d. Principal Address: 1746 W St Joseph St Tampa, 33607 e. Mailing Address: 1746 W St Joseph St Tampa, 33607 f. Website: www.heardemsay.org g. Organization Type: Nonprofit Organization h. Organization Category: Cultural Organization i. County: Hillsborough j. DUNS number: 081232763 k. Fiscal Year End Date:

1. Grant Contact * First Name Liz Last Name Prisley Phone 321.431.8569 Email [email protected]

2. Additional Contact * First Name Donna Last Name Prisley Phone 321.431.8922 Email [email protected]

3. Authorized Official * First Name Adrien Last Name Julious Phone 813.495.6367 Email [email protected]

4. National Endowment for the Arts Descriptors 4.1. Applicant Status

Organization - Nonprofit

4.2. Institution Type

Arts Service Organization

4.3. Applicant Discipline

Multidisciplinary

5. Department Name C. Eligibility Page 3 of 10

1. What is the legal status of the applicant? *

Public Entity

Nonprofit, Tax-Exempt

Solo or Individual artists or unincoporated performing company

Other (not an eligible response)

2. Are proposed activities accessible to all members of the public? *

Yes (required for eligibility)

3. Do proposed activities occur between 7/1/2020 - 6/30/2021? *

Yes (required for eligibility)

4. How many years of completed programming does the applicant have? *

Less than 1 year

1-2 years

3 or more years (required minimum to request more than $50,000 in GPS)

5. Multi Disciplinary*

Yes (If yes, you should apply to the Presenting discipline)

No (required for eligibility) D. Excellence Page 4 of 10

1. Applicant Mission Statement - (Maximum characters 500.) * The mission of the Heard Em Say Youth Arts Collective is to identify, cultivate, and empower young people in activism and advocacy through artistic education and expression.

2. Proposal Description Describe the project or program for which you are requesting funding. Include goals, fully measurable objectives, activities, partnerships/collaborations, and a timeline. If you are an LAA or SSO, please include a statement that describes the services provided to your audience (including membership) and how those services are provided.

2.1. Goals, Objectives, and Activities - (Maximum characters 5000.) Goals: Broad statements that are usually general, abstract, issue oriented with realistic priorities. Goals are a long-term end to which programs and activities are developed and should reflect the organization’s mission statement. Goals can be listed in priority order and ranked.

Objectives: Specific, measurable ends that are achievable within a time frame and mark progress towards achieving goals.

Activities: These are the specific activities that achieve the objectives.

Heard Em Say Youth Arts Collective’s primary goal is to cultivate and empower young people in activism and advocacy through artistic education and expression. We want to give youth the tools to add their voices to conversations on positive community change through writing and performance opportunities. Our primary audience is youth ages 13-19. As youth participants age out of our programming, our secondary goal is to prepare them for success in what comes next, whether that be higher education, vocational training, or entrepreneurship in the arts. This secondary goal seeks to cultivate young adult leaders who will be poised to lead the organization for future generations.

To meet these broad goals, our organization objectives are as follows: (1) to increase our youth’s KNOWLEDGE about writing and performance techniques; (2) to expand PRACTICE opportunities for young people to write, perform, and advocate for what matters to them; (3) to increase young people’s CONFIDENCE in themselves, their writing, performance, and advocacy; and (4) to grow young people who ADVOCATE for the issues they care about, and who see their voices as an important part of positive community change. We measure these objectives in each of our programs and look for increases in numbers of participants as well as increases in self-reported participant growth in these areas. For youth who remain in our programs year-round, we also ask for self-reported academic performance data like GPA and graduation tracking. Our objective of KNOWLEDGE looks for students to craft narratives sharing their stories, to identify and implement poetic devices in those narratives, to present their work in front of a variety of audiences, and to understand the scope of poetry slam as a sport of performance art. The objective of PRACTICE aims to increase participants’ writing production, expand their performance opportunities, and increase their comfort with public speaking. The objective of CONFIDENCE looks to increase youth participants’ confidence in who they are, their confidence in their writing, confidence in their performance techniques, and confidence in adding their voices to conversations on positive community change. This connects directly to our objective of ADVOCACY which asks students to express ideas for positive community change, to share their ideas with peers and decision makers, and to implement their ideas about positive change in their communities through service.

The activities that Heard Em Say offers to reach these objectives are our three core programs: our monthly open mic show, year-round workshops, and a Spring to Summer season of traveling poetry teams who compete and perform at regional and national events. The monthly open mic offers youth ages 19 and younger a place to express themselves on stage in front of a supportive audience of community members and decision makers. Workshops fall into two seasons: Fall and Spring, which follow a school year calendar. Fall workshops seek to connect youth to professional artists engaged in community building. Spring workshops hone students’ writing and performance craft via a rigorous curriculum of literary theory, analysis, writing, and performance technique. The seasonal poetry slam teams are formed each Spring with youth who meet exceptional standards of craft and hard work. These teams of young people travel not just the Tampa Bay area but also across the southeast region around Florida and beyond to share their stories and visions for positive community change in the form of spoken word poetry. One team of 5-7 youth will travel to the internationally renowned festival and poetry slam competition, Brave New Voices.

2.2. Partnerships & Collaborations - (Maximum characters 2000.) Describe any partnerships and/or collaborations with organizations directly related to the Specific Cultural Project (SCP) or General Programing (GPS). Discuss the responsibilities and benefits of the relationship and whether any formal agreements are in place.

Heard Em Say is an organization of professional artists who share their talent and skills with youth through our programs. While we are self-sustaining in that we are an organization of professional creatives; however, we do partner with area organizations and institutions to broaden our reach and increase opportunities for our youth to share their art.

One such informal relationship is with Hillsborough County Public Schools and their network of Media Center Specialists. Staff at Heard Em Say regularly work with the Poetry Jam program, started by the Hillsborough County Arts Council and now funded by the Hillsborough County Education Foundation. This program sends professional poets into middle and high school media centers to facilitate writing and performance workshops. Heard Em Say’s staff is part of the network of facilitators the district relies on to implement this program. In turn, Heard Em Say recruits youth participants from local schools to attend our monthly show and year-round workshops. Building on this relationship, Heard Em Say cultivates individual relationships with teachers and administrators who invite our staff to additional workshops or to take part in extracurricular activities they host. One such example is East Bay High School’s GEARUP program that brought our staff in for a nine week workshop series on self expression which was so successful, students advocated for the program to return.

We also have a long-running partnership with University of South Florida’s Contemporary Art Museum (USFCAM). USFCAM’s Curator of Public Art and Social Practice, Dr. Sarah Howard, has sought collaborations with Heard Em Say’s teen artists for the past several years to put on public art performances in conjunction with museum exhibitions. These ekphrastic art opportunities invite Heard Em Say students to explore USFCAM’s annual exhibitions and to create poems that speak to the museum’s installations in public performances.

2.3. Timeline - (Maximum characters 2000.) List timeline of activities during the grant period.

Heard Em Say’s program year runs from August 1 through July 31. Our monthly open mic shows take place from 7:00-10:00p at our host facility, the Inkwell Centre on the last Friday of each month, with the exception of November and December where the show moves up to the third Friday to avoid conflicts with Thanksgiving and Christmas. The open mic show seeks professional artists to perform featured sets each month from September through December in order to network youth with leaders in a variety of performance art. These artists also often facilitate the monthly workshops that fall the day after the show to share their creative processes and for youth to collaborate on new and different influences outside Heard Em Say’s staff of creatives.

Fall workshops take place once a month September through December on the Saturday following the open mic show. The goal of this season is expose our youth to professional performance artists whose work spans a diverse range of topics and styles. Spring workshops take place every Saturday in January through March and are created to hone students’ writing and performance craft and are developed and implemented by our own staff.

At the beginning of April, workshops turn into more focused practices for the youth who are invited to be part of our traveling performance teams. Practices are led by our slam coaches and run weekly until the close of the school year then often increase to biweekly until their last performance dates in mid-July. Additional workshops offered in Hillsborough County Public Schools run throughout the school year and depend on individual teachers’ schedules. E. Impact Page 5 of 10

Instructions

Do not count individuals reached through TV, radio, cable broadcast, the Internet, or other media. Include actual audience numbers based on paid/free admissions or seats filled. Avoid inflated numbers, and do not double-count repeat attendees.

Applicants to the UCCD Salary Assistance category should calculate the number of individuals benefitting based on the number of jobs the grant funds in the application is supporting. If it is only one (1) position, then the number of individuals benefitting should be one (1).

1. What is the estimated number of proposal events? *

2. What is the estimated number of opportunities for public participation? *

3. How many Adults will be engaged? *

175

4. How many school based youth will be engaged? *

150

5. How many non-school based youth will be engaged? *

250

6. How many artists will be directly involved? *

15 Total number of individuals who will be engaged? 590

7. Select all categories that make up 25% or more of population directly benefitting (excluding broadcasts and online programming): * Children/Youth (0-18 years) Young Adults (19-24 years) Adults (25- 64 years)

8. Select all categories that make up 25% or more of population directly benefitting (excluding broadcasts and online programming): * Black/African American Hispanic/Latino White

9. Additional impact/participation numbers information (optional) - (Maximum characters 500.) Use this space to provide the panel with additional detail or information about the impact/participation numbers.

10. In what counties will the project/program actually take place? Select the counties in which the project/programming will actually occur. For example, if your organization is located in Alachua county and you are planning programming that will take place in Alachua as well as the surrounding counties of Clay and St. Johns, you will list all three counties. Please do not include counties served unless the project or programming will be physically taking place in that county. State Service Organization applicants: Select all counties that will be served by your programming.

Duval Hillsborough Orange Pinellas

11. Proposal Impact - (Maximum characters 3500.) * Describe the economic impact of your organization as a whole and of the proposal in particular on your local community. Include a description of your proposal's education and outreach activities.

Organizations: Include the economic impact of your organization as a whole. Solo Artists: Include any positive social elements and community engagement anticipated from the project.

Since Heard Em Say’s 2007 inception, over 5,000 area youth have performed on our stages. We bring together youth from all walks of life: from high achieving private schools to public schools to alternative programs for youth experiencing barriers to success. Due to our wide outreach, our stages intentionally give life to stories that cross boundaries of race, ethnicity, class, gender identity, sexual orientation, faith, and ability. These stories come in the form of spoken word poetry, comedy, rap, hip-hop, singing, theater, or just a few moments of conversationally sharing life experiences. We reach students where they are, in creative writing classrooms, after school programs, through media center specialists, alternative programs like PACE Center for Girls or Starting Right Now, and many other places. We foster an environment where youth, their families, and communities will engage in dialogue about the variety of creative and performance arts they experience, as well as the wide range of topics shared by our youth and professional performers.

Our traveling slam teams take youth out of the Tampa Bay area, many for the first time, to travel out of state and even across the country for their art. The youth teams network with peers and professionals in cities across the country, cultivating future opportunities for them to work, study, or perform. Through these relationships, many youth have earned scholarships, high-profile recommendations, internships, and even job opportunities. Many youth have relocated after high school graduation to cities where they met people and organizations engaged in the kinds of work they see themselves doing.

According to the Hillsborough County Arts Council’s economic impact calculator, the economic impact of Heard Em Say’s total expenditures is $54,605. Our expenditures also create 2 full- time equivalent positions; cultivate a household income of $38,599; and generate $2,703 in local government $3,786 in state government revenues.

12. Marketing and Promotion - (Maximum characters 3500.) * Describe the marketing/promotion/publicity plans and audience development/expansion efforts as related to the proposal. For example, include information on advertising, social media, collaboration with local organizations, brochures, etc.

Our marketing takes place primarily through social media. We utilize Facebook and Instagram to connect with youth in the places they already spend their time! Targeted ads have increased our reach there immensely. We also invite our youth to join in with promotion, hosting “take over” days where teens run the social media under direction. We also leverage spaces like the Hillsborough Arts Council’s events page or e-newsletters through the Hillsborough County Media Center Specialists to advertise events.

Heard Em Say also partners with WMNF our local listener-sponsored community radio program. Several times a year they host our staff and teens to promote our programs and events. Word of mouth is one of our strongest recruiting tools. We ask youth to invite their friends. Teachers who love us invite their students. We regularly have younger siblings join us when their older siblings age out. Through a campaign of intentional youth peer recruitment we tripled our workshop attendance from the Spring of 2016 to the Spring of 2017.

We also print fliers that we distribute at public libraries, with youth-serving community partners like the Boys & Girls Club, PACE Pinellas and Hillsborough, and our youth participants. F. Management and Operating Budget Page 6 of 10

1. Fiscal Condition and Sustainability - (Maximum characters 1750.) * Describe the fiscal condition of the organization as it relates to the successful completion of the proposal. Also describe plans to sustain the proposal activities after the grant period.

Heard Em Say has delivered 12 years of programming, giving us a broad and stable community of support. What started out as an open mic has gained momentum with each passing year. We became a nonprofit organization in January 2018 as our momentum was too large to contain in a volunteer-run capacity. Our budget started off conservatively, compensating our artists, offering largely volunteer staff small stipends for their commitments, and sending our teens to compete regionally, removing cost barriers of participation. Since achieving nonprofit status we doubled our 2019 operating budget and are on course to do so again in 2020.

We just held our annual May fundraiser where we doubled our admissions revenue. Only halfway through our fiscal year we have already doubled our private donations. By the end of this fiscal year we are projected to have tripled our private donations. Our organization has a lot of momentum and energy in our community. Our Board Treasurer, Donna Prisley, is an independent nonprofit consultant with over 15 years in nonprofit management and administration. In partnership with her, we remain committed to carrying on this energy and managing our budget accordingly.

The revenue stream we are excited to expand is our fee-for-service programming, offering workshops and performances for hire. We have performed paid gigs with partners like USFCAM, the Brain Injury Association of Florida, and the GASP Fringe Arts Festival. This revenue combined with our base of donors will ensure our programming continues outside of and beyond grant funding cycles. As we grow, we also look forward to being eligible for increased funding from our local and regional arts agencies.

2. Evaluation Plan - (Maximum characters 1750.) * Briefly describe your methods and processes for gathering, analyzing, and reporting data to evaluate your programming with the purpose of improving, deciding to continue, or stopping.

The Monthly Open Mic show is evaluated on reach and engagement. We track open mic participants and audience to gauge our reach. We ask audience to fill out brief surveys on their enjoyment and engagement in the show. We also track the diversity of our featured artists in craft as well as identity. Workshops are evaluated on attendance and participation. Youth fill out longer assessments that ask about their engagement, knowledge acquisition, and feelings of inclusion and affirmation. We want to ensure workshops continue to be a space where our youth feel seen, heard, and empowered. We also ask youth for their input on future workshop topics.

The traveling slam teams are asked to assess their experiences at the beginning, middle, and end of our competition season. Participants share longer narratives about their experiences, personal and professional growth, feelings of inclusion and empowerment, and their experiences with program staff or other program volunteers they may interact with.

3. Completed Fiscal Year End Date (m/d/yyyy) * 12/31/2018

4. Operating Budget Summary

Expenses Previous Fiscal Current Fiscal Next Fiscal Year Year Year

1. Personnel: Administrative $500 $1,500

2. Personnel: Programmatic $2,500 $2,500 $10,000

3. Personnel: Technical/Production

4. Outside Fees and Services: $1,500 $1,500 $1,500 Programmatic

5. Outside Fees and Services: Other

6. Space Rental, Rent or Mortgage $1,800 $5,000

7. Travel $4,200 $7,000 $8,000

8. Marketing $150 $1,050 $2,000

9. Remaining Operating Expenses $2,860 $3,435 $5,200

A. Total Cash Expenses $11,210 $17,785 $33,200 B. In-kind Contributions $6,000 $6,000 $8,000

C. Total Operating Expenses $17,210 $23,785 $41,200

Income Previous Fiscal Current Fiscal Next Fiscal Year Year Year

10. Revenue: Admissions $1,500 $3,000 $5,000

11. Revenue: Contracted Services $4,000 $3,500 $5,000

12. Revenue: Other

13. Private Support: Corporate $1,000 $1,500 $2,500

14. Private Support: Foundation

15. Private Support: Other $3,000 $6,000 $10,000

16. Government Support: Federal

17. Government Support: $5,000 $5,500 State/Regional

18. Government Support: $5,000 $5,000 $11,000 Local/County

19. Applicant Cash $2,500 $5,000 $7,500

D. Total Cash Income $17,000 $29,000 $46,500

B. In-kind Contributions $6,000 $6,000 $8,000

E. Total Operating Income $23,000 $35,000 $54,500

5. Additional Operating Budget Information (optional) - (Maximum characters 500.) Use this space to provide the panel with additional detail or information about the operating budget. For example, if you have a budget deficit or there has been a large change in your operating budget compared with last fiscal year.

As of June 1, 2019, we are only halfway through our current fiscal year. The numbers in the budget form reflect actuals of where we are now, not projected revenue or expenses for the rest of our fiscal year. Given the growth we've experienced in the first half of the year, we expect to end the year doubling most of our revenue numbers. 2020's projected budget is ambitious based on our actuals, but please bear in mind that these actuals are only half our anticipated numbers for this year.

6. Paid Staff

Applicant has no paid management staff.

Applicant has at least one part-time paid management staff member (but no full-time)

Applicant has one full-time paid management staff member

Applicant has more than one full-time paid management staff member

7. Hours *

Organization is open full-time

Organization is open part-time G. Management and Proposal Budget Page 7 of 10

1. Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI) Waiver *

Yes

2. Proposal Budget Expenses: Detail estimated proposal expenses in the budget categories listed below. Include only expenses that specifically related to the proposal. You can find a list of non-allowable and match only expenses at http://dos.florida-arts.org/grants/guidelines/2017-2018.gps.guidelines.cfm#budget.

2.1. Personnel: Administrative *

Grant Cash In-Kind # Description Funds Match Match Total

1 Portion of Executive Director Salary $0 $1,500 $0 $1,500 Dedicated to Admin

Totals: $0 $1,500 $0 $1,500

2.2. Personnel: Programmatic *

Grant Cash In-Kind # Description Funds Match Match Total

1 Executive Director Stipend for $2,750 $2,750 $0 $5,500 Program Implementation

2 Open Mic Show Manager Stipend $1,375 $1,375 $0 $2,750

3 Workshop Manager $1,375 $1,375 $0 $2,750

Totals: $5,500 $5,500 $0 $11,000

2.4. Outside Fees and Services: Programmatic * Grant Cash In-Kind # Description Funds Match Match Total

1 Open Mic Show Professional Artist $0 $1,500 $0 $1,500 Feature Fees

Totals: $0 $1,500 $0 $1,500

2.6. Space Rental (match only) *

# Description Cash Match In-Kind Match Total

1 Inkwell Centre Rental Fees $5,000 $5,000 $10,000

Totals: $5,000 $5,000 $10,000

2.7. Travel (match only) *

# Description Cash Match In-Kind Match Total

1 Regional Team Travel Year-Round $3,000 $0 $3,000

2 Travel to Brave New Voices $5,000 $0 $5,000

Totals: $8,000 $0 $8,000

2.8. Marketing *

Grant Cash In-Kind # Description Funds Match Match Total

1 Graphic Design $0 $500 $1,000 $1,500

2 Social Media Consultant $0 $500 $0 $500

3 Printing $0 $500 $0 $500

4 Advertising $0 $500 $500 $1,000

Totals: $0 $2,000 $1,500 $3,500

2.9. Remaining Proposal Expenses * Grant Cash In-Kind # Description Funds Match Match Total

1 Brave New Voices Registration $0 $2,500 $0 $2,500

2 Web/Email Services $0 $600 $3,000 $3,600

3 Food Costs for Workshops & $0 $1,500 $0 $1,500 Practices

4 Supplies $0 $200 $500 $700

5 Participant T-Shirts $0 $400 $0 $400

6 Youth Scholarship Fund $0 $7,800 $0 $7,800

Totals: $0 $13,000 $3,500 $16,500

Amount of Grant Funding Requested: $5,500

Cash Match: $36,500

In-Kind Match: $10,000

Match Amount: $46,500

Total Project Cost: $52,000

3. Proposal Budget Income: Detail the expected source of the cash match recorded in the expenses table in the budget categories listed below. Include only income that specifically relates to the proposal. The Proposal Budget income must equal the Proposal Budget expenses.

3.1. Revenue: Admissions * # Description Cash Match Total

1 Annual Fundraiser Show $5,000 $5,000 Admissions

Totals: $0 $5,000 $5,000

3.2. Revenue: Contracted Services *