Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Scholarships to Music Camps
Providing full scholarships for Black youth to attend Rock'n'Roll Camp for Girls, a week-long summer empowerment program in Portland. Also providing supports and stipends for families to help overcome barriers they face when sending their kids to camp.
Micro Grants for Black Youth Artists
Direct support for Black youth in the form of cash stipends to families. These payments are meant to assist youth in completing music and arts related lessons, camps, and other activities.
Where we work
Affiliations & memberships
Black American Chamber of Commerce 2020
External reviews

Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of diversity training courses conducted
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Adolescents, Children, People of African descent, Young women, Transgender people
Related Program
Scholarships to Music Camps
Type of Metric
Input - describing resources we use
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
We contract with Empress Rules Equity Consulting to conduct DEI trainings for our board and volunteers.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
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?
Our objective is to offer space for Black youth to experiment and develop their artistic confidence.
We are creating a robust, safe, sustainable organization that centers Black families and offers year-round programs, workshops, events and spaces where youth can explore the arts, develop creative skills, and rock out.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Our strategies include: recruiting Black leadership for our board; hiring Black musicians to teach workshops, lessons and camps; hiring Black artists to perform at fundraising events and design event materials; partnering with other organizations to co-produce workshops and events where Black youth can experiment and develop their artistic confidence.
We provide direct support including honoraria, musical instruments, and tuition assistance for Black youth to complete arts-related summer camps and activities.
We increase access to the arts by connecting Black youth to workshops, lessons, camps, after-school programs, jam sessions, rock band formation, rehearsal spaces, mentoring, performance opportunities and more.
This year we are raising funds to create mobile and house-based spaces for our programs.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We are capable of meeting our goals because we have dedicated leaders who are active in the community we serve, including artists, musicians, small business owners and diversity practitioners.
Our capabilities include knowledge of the community, experience working with youth, understanding of DEI principles, physical space to hold events and activities, and a strong network of supporters, volunteers and strategic partners.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
Since 2020 we have provided tuition and stipends for 15 Black youth to attend Portland's Rock 'n' Roll Camp for Girls.
We have worked with partner businesses and nonprofits to provide musical instruments and art supplies such as electric guitars, amplifiers, acoustic guitars, ukuleles and keyboards to 6 Black youth.
We have increased the diversity of our leadership by adding 3 Black women to our board.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
Children ages 9-17 who are Black youth, and their families.
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
Recently feedback from a participant resulted in a change in the leadership of our board.
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback
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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- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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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.
Dana Thompson Memorial Fund of Awesome
Board of directorsas of 02/08/2023
Christine Claringbold
Eye Pop Art
Term: 2019 - 2023
Charles Claringbold
Tacarra Russell
Phyllis Laners
Crystal Martin
Deoshia Hopkins
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 ? Not applicable -
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? Yes
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:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 04/15/2021GuideStar 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 review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- 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 use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.