In Los Angeles, we are lucky to have an abundance of music organizations, so on almost any given day, there may be many wonderful concert options. Despite this abundance, low income kids still don’t have as much as access to music and music education. Caesura Youth Orchestra (CYO) is based on the El Sistema model to provide urban youth with a positive community where they can through music experience a break from the negative impact of drugs, gangs and economic disadvantages.
Last year, JRP helped CYO, which was founded in 2014, to develop their board. Because they’ve had a lot of success working with Glendale schools, they need to build the infrastructure to grow and so founder Dave Ferguson asked JRP if we could help. He had some great board members, but was still the central person getting everything done. JRP board development volunteer David Fields, an experienced nonprofit executive director, helped Dave and the CYO board better understand their roles and identify new potential board members oriented to expanding CYO’s work. The project went so well that David has even joined the board and is now helping with strategic planning!
JRP’s capacity-building work is so much more than transactional consulting; we’re building great relationships; in this case, placing a highly experienced volunteer who a has become a board member will bring more music to more kids!