GRANDVILLE AVENUE ARTS AND HUMANITIES INC
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Institutional culture has historically oppressed communities of color, and our neighborhood is no exception. White supremacy culture is oppressive, silencing, and unbearable. This makes our neighbors feel frustrated, powerless, silenced, and oppressed. The resources and environments for community creativity, growth, and expression are severely limited.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
After School Arts
The Cook Arts Center’s After School Arts program allows K-12 grade students to explore artistic expression and access high-quality arts instruction in a safe, student-centered, culturally-responsive space—providing opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable in our neighborhood. Using the Cook Arts Center’s specialized studios, professional teaching artists teach classes in a wide variety of artistic disciplines including music (piano, violin, drumming and rhythm), dance (break dance, ballet, Mexican folkloric dance, hip hop), and visual arts (painting, sewing, drawing, fabric arts, pottery, wheel throwing). We also offer family classes so parents and relatives can participate along with their students.
After School Arts classes run in seasonal blocks throughout the calendar year. We offer sessions for eight weeks in the fall, eight weeks in the winter, and six weeks in the spring. Classes run once a week for one-hour or two-hour time blocks.
Teen Leaders Program
Our Teen Leaders program has three major components: academic support, leadership development through internships, and creative expression. We work to provide opportunities in these areas all with a foundation of trusting relationships. Building strong interpersonal relationships and networks of support for each participant is our number one focus, as we know that real individual growth and support for young people can’t happen without trusting relationships. As a result of this relational focus, our program never looks the same year to year. During the school-year teens identify their current needs and areas of interest, and we develop outlines of projects accordingly. From there, teens identify which projects align with their needs and goals, and then we pursue those projects. Projects range from SAT Prep classes to camping trips to environmental justice internships. Teens have the opportunity to participate in career and identity exploration workshops, access specialized tutors and
Cook Library After School
Cook Library After School (CLAS) provides academic support and engaging learning activities for K-8 students. We hear from our neighbors daily that kids are not getting all of the support they need in school and, as a result, are not growing to their full potential. We know this happens for many reasons, rooted in historical and systemic oppression: language barriers, learning differences, school institutional culture, bullying, and more. Many of these barriers are directly related to identity, social-emotional learning and development, and gaps in our systems that lead to gaps in learning for our kids. CLAS creates an environment of care and belonging that acknowledges these larger issues are the problem, not our students.
With this foundation, we focus our activities and support for K-8 students and their families in three main areas: academic support, leadership development, and parental/family engagement.
Girls Rock! Grand Rapids
Girls Rock! Grand Rapids is a week-long summer camp for girls and gender-expansive youth to learn the basics of an instrument, join a band to write a song together, and then take that song to the stage and a professional recording studio at the end of the week. While the program is centered around music, the focus of the camp week is to learn new ways of working together, communicating and expressing yourself, and pushing against harmful cultural norms that lead girls and queer youth to believe they are not enough.
Summer Arts & Learning
Combining arts and academics, Summer Arts and Learning not only provides youth with high-quality arts experiences but also bridges the summer learning gap. This active summer day camp for K-8 students includes visual arts, ceramics, dance, music, adventures in cooking, and weekly field trips.
Cook Library Summer Camp
Learning and exploring is the theme of our Cook Library Summer Camp each year. Fun math, science and reaading activities combined with outdoor games and fun, we provide youth with high-quality summer experiences while also bridging the summer learning gap. This active summer day camp for K-8 students includes science, games, literacy activities, cooking, math and more.
Library Services
The library center began more than 25 years ago when community members decided to address a significant disparity among public institutions in the city of Grand Rapids: no library was on the southwest side. Today, our library continues to be a vibrant community hub offering critical resources to our neighbors and support as they overcome barriers. Services include traditional library resources such as book check out, internet and computer access, and printing and faxing services. We also provide individual learning supports for neighbors who need help in specific areas.
We are open to the public five days a week from Monday through Friday.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
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?
We envision a flourishing neighborhood where people embody liberation, self-determination, self-expression, connection, and joy.
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
We utilize three core strategies to accomplish our work:
1. Care & Belonging - We prioritize building relationships with our neighbors to ensure they experience care, belonging, and affirmation of their humanity in our spaces.
2. Discovery - Neighbors gain awareness of self, others, and the world around them through creativity, self-expression, curiosity, empathy, and learning.
3. Advocacy - Neighbors are connected to institutional systems to learn about them and influence them, in order to create more equitable outcomes. This includes education, government, and political systems.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
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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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.
GRANDVILLE AVENUE ARTS AND HUMANITIES INC
Board of directorsas of 03/22/2023
Ricardo Benavidez
Ktisis Capital
Tony Baker
Ferris State University
Briana Trudell
Bradbury Miller Associates
Scott Harris
Huntington Bank
Marlene Kowalski-Braun
Grand Valley State University
Nancy Toledo Jimenez
Downtown Grand Rapids Inc.
Tina Bain
Amway (Retired)
Chavala Ymker
Lakeshore Ethnic Diversity Alliance
Ebony Moore
Hope Network
Addie Donley
Corewell Health
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? No -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? No -
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? No -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? No -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? No
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: