Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Young Voices of Austin seeks to help bridge the educational gap that currently exists in the metropolitan area by bringing children to one location to learn together and to learn from each other.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Vox Prima
Vox Prima
Ages 6-11(1st-5th grade)
Meets on Tuesdays, 4:00-5:30PM weekly from September through May.
Program Location: 2020-2021 - REMOTE PROGRAM
Young Voices of Austin provides high-quality music education to a racially and socioeconomically diverse population of
young people ages 6 to 18. Musical instruction includes rigorous sight-singing and ear-training, general
musical literacy, vocal technique, and stage presence and movement. Choristers learn to analyze scores
from many styles and traditions, and to sing texts in many different languages from around the world. The mission of YVA is enhanced by a commitment to academic achievement, including assistance with identifying and applying to colleges, tutoring, guidance on auditions and essay-writing, and SAT/ACT preparation. Young Voices of Austin is committed not only to creating stronger musicians but stronger people, empowering the voices of Austin’s youngest citizens so that they may become its future leaders.
Vox Medius
Vox Medius
6th through 8th grades
Meets on Mondays, 4:30-6:00PM weekly from September through May
Program location: 2020-2021 - REMOTE PROGRAM
Young Voices of Austin provides high-quality music education to a racially and socioeconomically diverse population of young people ages 6 to 18. Musical instruction includes rigorous sight-singing and ear-training, general musical literacy, vocal technique, and stage presence and movement. Choristers learn to analyze scores from many styles and traditions, and to sing texts in many different languages from around the world. The mission of YVA is enhanced by a commitment to academic achievement, including assistance with identifying and applying to colleges, tutoring, guidance on auditions and essay-writing, and SAT/ACT preparation. Young Voices of Austin is committed not only to creating stronger musicians but stronger people, empowering the voices of Austin’s youngest citizens so that they may become its future leaders.
Vox Dominus
Vox Dominus
9th through 12th grades
Meets on Mondays, 5:30-7PM, weekly from September through May.
Program location: 2020-2021 - REMOTE PROGRAM
Young Voices of Austin provides high-quality music education to a racially and socioeconomically diverse population of young people ages 6 to 18. Musical instruction includes rigorous sight-singing and ear-training, general musical literacy, vocal technique, and stage presence and movement. Choristers learn to analyze scores from many styles and traditions, and to sing texts in many different languages from around the world. The mission of YVA is enhanced by a commitment to academic achievement, including assistance with identifying and applying to colleges, tutoring, guidance on auditions and essay-writing, and SAT/ACT preparation. Young Voices of Austin is committed not only to creating stronger musicians but stronger people, empowering the voices of Austin’s youngest citizens so that they may become its future leaders.
Where we work
External reviews

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Our Sustainable Development Goals
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Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Young Voices of Austin celebrates the rich diversity of our city by providing a high-quality community-based afterschool program to a racially and socioeconomically diverse population of young people ages 6 to 18. We work to instill a drive not only for musical excellence, but also academic and personal excellence, in all of our students. The three pronged mission of YVA is driven by a commitment to academic achievement regardless of socioeconomic factors. This includes assistance with identifying and applying to colleges, tutoring, guidance on auditions and essay-writing, and SAT/ACT preparation.
Musical instruction includes rigorous sight-singing and ear-training, general music literacy, vocal technique, and stage presence and movement. Choristers learn to analyze scores from many styles and traditions, and to sing texts in many different languages from around the world.
Young Voices of Austin is committed not only to creating stronger musicians but stronger people, empowering the voices of Austin’s youngest citizens so that they may become its future leaders.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
In 2016, Young Voices of Austin was founded on pillars of promoting diversity and inclusion. Through fostering musical expression and academic excellence, we believe that we here in Austin can establish ourselves as the forefront of advocating for both values.To that end, in each of the past three program years, in addition to our choral program, we have provided educational enrichment to all of our students. Besides tutoring, we also provide SAT/ACT prep, assistance with scholarship applications, career counseling, financial literacy training and life skills.
To date, all of our seniors have graduated on time with all receiving at least partial college scholarships. Almost all of those are the first in their families to enroll in college.
Our Board and Staff are dedicated to raising scholarship funds annually and are passionate in our belief that no student should be turned away due to inability to pay.
73% on full scholarship in 2019/2020
100% on full scholarship in 2020/2021
100% of Austin applicants accepted
25+ Austin area schools represented
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Young Voices of Austin celebrates the rich diversity of the city's youth. By supporting the musical, academic, and personal achievements of our choristers, YVA provides a high-quality, community-based afterschool experience for young people ages 6 to 18.
Young Voices of Austin provides fully funded bus transportation for every chorister who needs it. We see this as the key to bringing together students from all neighborhoods of Austin. It is crucial to the success of our mission. It is also our greatest challenge. It costs over $800 to transport each chorister from school to the program and back again in the evening. In this, our third program year, we provide transportation for 71% of our students, joining us from 25 schools throughout Austin.
In addition, 73% of our choristers are on full or partial scholarships. YVA’s Board and Staff are dedicated to raising scholarship funds each year and are passionate in their belief that no student should be turned away due to their inability to pay.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
What have you accomplished so far and what’s next?
We have engaged several dozen community partners that have joined together to provide over 1500 meals and 1700 bottles of Richard’s Rainwater for our students. Austin’s own BookSpring has provided hundreds of books for us to distribute to our families, and the Library of Congress has provided a small lending library for our office. We have partnered with PriceWaterhouseCoopers to provide our students with annual Financial Literacy workshops and have worked with the world-renown Paramount and Stateside Theatre to host our annual concerts. In each of the past three program years, all of our seniors have graduated High School on time with most receiving at least partial college scholarships. Below are few statistics about our program’s recent achievements.
73% percentage of choristers on full or partial scholarship
100% percentage of Austin area applicants accepted into our program
25+ Austin area schools represented through our choristers.
44 Choristers enrolled 2019/2020
Moving forward: Since the COVID-related suspension of our program in March 2020, we have been working closely with our local school districts as well as following guidelines from local and state health officials to ensure that we are adhering to recommended safety protocols. We hope that by developing a hybrid model (remote learning and on-campus instruction) of our program, we can ensure that Young Voices of Austin will continue providing resources and opportunities for our students. We have accepted 40 students into our Fall program and look forward to reimagining and reenvisioning our program to thrive in this post-pandemic world.
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
YOUNG VOICES OF AUSTIN
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Steve Kuhn
Paul Twitchell
Paul Twitchell
Ray Benson
Molly Joseph
Andrew Olson
Christy Pipkin
Turk Pipkin
Andy Roddick
Luis Zayas
Steve Kuhn
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 07/13/2020GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.