2020

TABLE
TABLE OFOF CONTENTSCONTENTS
3 The 2020 Adobe Creativity Grants
4 Thank Yous
5 Countries Reached by the 2020 Adobe Creativity Grants
6 Creative Cloud Donation Program
9 Adobe Project Grant
Addressing the Digital Divide
Technical Support
Curriculum Revamp
Virtual Programming Resources
13 Partnership Management & Virtual Community Engagement
Partnership Engagement Webinars
Community Films & Exploring Creativity: A Virtual Summit
What Does Well-Being Look Like to You?
Creativity During Quarantine
The United Nations 26th Youth AssemblyBlack Lives Matter Transatlantic Conversation Initiative
16 Appendix 1: Adobe Creative Cloud Donation Program Impact Stories
21 Appendix 2: Adobe Project Grant Recipients
Collaborative Projects
Community Projects
Skill Development Projects
Mentoring Projects
Summer Intensives Projects
34 Appendix 3: Community Films and Exploring Creativity: A Virtual Summit
37 Appendix 4: Black Lives Matter Transatlantic Conversation Initiative

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I. THE ADOBE CREATIVITY GRANTS
With our ever changing workforce, it is becoming universally
recognized that creativity is an important skill to have in ourrepertoire. However, access to creative education is not always
equitable. Community based, creative youth organizations areproviding advanced training to build creative skills and empowering
young voices through various forms of media. They are also providing
opportunities for creative career development by paving the way for

BAYCATa more diverse and inclusive creative industry.
The Adobe Creativity Grants supported over 225 creative youth organizations from 41 countries with software
donations and monetary grants to build upon their creative programming. In 2020 these organizations havedirectly impacted 49,104 young creatives. These creative youth organizations give young people spaces andopportunities to develop and grow their creative, technical, and cognitive skills for success in school, work,and life. Additionally, they provide young people with resources to learn how to creatively showcase their ideas
about their interests, lives, and community to the rest of the world.
Given the health and safety guidelines in response to the COVID 19 pandemic, these organizations were
not discouraged from continuing to deliver their programming. Instead, they had found innovative ways tocontinue to connect and inspire their young creatives. From Instagram challenges to virtual workshops, theseorganizations are delivering programs that teach their young creatives new ways to create various types of
media pieces using the limited technical resources available athome. These programs also provided a sense of stability andcommunity during these unprecedented times, as creativity
can be a powerful tool and source of expression.
In this document you will be provided with a detailed summary
NYC Salt Inc.

of how these creative youth organizations are creating safer

spaces for equity seeking young people to explore and develop their interests, creativity and use art as a tool
for positive social impact.

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II. THANK YOUSA special thank you to our TakingITGlobal team members for their leadership and guidance in creating a global
community of creative youth organizations. We would also like to thank the program guests and mentors for
inspiring a global network of young creatives as they continue on their creative journey.

Financial Team
Silvia Olteanu

Project Leads

Tech & Design Team

Tania Rashid

Outreach Team

Jessica Matthews

Bruna Aguiar

Jay Baker

Cory Herc

Jennifer Corriero

Kim Boucher-Morin

Michael Furdyk

Kim Dymond

Andrew Mukama
Cristian Rojas
Edgar Gonzalez
Maddie Payne
Tinisha Steinman

Liam OʼDoherty
Maddie Payne

Program Guests & Mentors
Adrian Assouﬁ

Edgar Gonzalez

Jamie Whitecrow

Jimmy Blais

Kevin Wesaquate

Madi Piller

Maliha Khalid

Melissa Jim

Michael Lobel

Patrick Shannon

Ron Leach

Ryan Rizzo

Shanik Tanna
TakingITGlobal would also like to thank Adobe for their partnership in supporting this global
creative youth network through the Adobe Creativity Grants program. And last but not least, we
would like to thank all of the 240 of organizations who are paving the pathway in creating a moreaccessible and equitable creative industry.

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COUNTRIES REACHED IN 2020
BY THE ADOBE CREATIVITY GRANTS

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II. CREATIVE CLOUD DONATION PROGRAM
The Adobe Creative Cloud Donation program supported creative youth

228

organizations through the donation of the Adobe Creative Cloud Shared Device
licenses software. Non-for-proﬁt organizations that facilitate digital media
programming for equity-seeking young people from their local communities,

ORGANIZATIONSREACHED

were eligible to receive upto 50 Adobe Creative Cloud Shared
Device licenses.

139
89

New
Organizations
Alumni
Organizations

COUNTRIESREACHED41 7,826
YOUNG
CREATIVES
REACHED

LICENSES
DISTRIBUTED

49,104

DreamYard Project

The Adobe Creative Cloud Shared Device licenses
allowed the young participants to have full access to
all Adobe Creative Cloud softwares, such as Photoshop,
InDesign, Illustrator, Premiere, etc. The nature of theseshared device licences provided organizations the opportunity
to create an in-house digital media lab, with organizations customizing thelicenses to their programming needs, where participants then accessed
their projects through their personal Adobe account. As a result, theorganizations were able to directly reach a larger number of young creatives
through this software donation program.

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However, the COVID 19 pandemic altered how these donated licenses were being used by the creative youth
organizations. Due to health and physical distancing guidelines being put into place, the in-house digital lab
model was no longer a feasible method of using these licenses. TIGʼs Technical Support team worked closelywith organization leads to come up with various solutions and plans to best utilize these licenses in the current
circumstances. Many organizations created a Device-Loaning program that involved installing Adobe software
onto devices, such as laptops for both staﬀ, mentors, and participants, for the continuation of using theselicenses. These Device-Loaning programs allowed young creatives without access to devices, to access Adobe
software at home in order to successfully participate in the program.

Cognitive, Social &Technical Skills Learned

Audio
MixingProblemSolving

Film/Photo
Editing

Cross-cultural
Collaboration

Animation

Commitment

Storytelling

LeadershipTime
Management

Confidence

Snow City Arts

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In 2020, the Adobe Creative Cloud Donation Program
reached 228 creative youth organizations from 41
countries, out of which 139 were new organizations that
became a part of this growing global network of creative
youth organizations. As a result, a total of 7,826 shareddevice licenses were distributed. These organizations
found innovative ways to continue to deliver their program
Samuel Centre for Social Connectedness

during the COVID 19 pandemic. Through their virtual
programming models, 49,104 young creatives took partin digital media programs that taught them technical skills on how they can use Adobe softwares to create
media pieces. To learn more about how creative youth organizations implemented the use of the Adobe Creative
Cloud Shared Device Licenses during the COVID 19 pandemic please see Appendix 1.

Primary Apps Used

NYC Salt Inc.

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III. ADOBE PROJECT GRANT

In 2020, 25 creative youth organizations wereawarded with the $10,000 Adobe Project Grant. This
grant supported them in implementing a new projectidea, a collaborative project, or expand upon current
programming. The goal of the Adobe Project Grant was
to provide creative youth organizations with monetaryfunds to grow their creative programming for equity
seeking young people in their local community.

JAYU

The global COVID 19 pandemic did notdiscouragetheseorganizations

fromimplementing their projects, as they pivoted
to deliver them in a virtual setting. The
organizations demonstrated their strength,
resilience and adaptability to continue todeliver inspiring and innovative projects fortheir young creatives. A total of 2,200 young
creatives from 12 countries were engaged
through the projects that were implemented
utilizing this grant.

Free Spirit Media

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The TIG team worked closely with each of the organizations to understand what was required to implementand deliver virtual programming during this global pandemic. Over 550 one-on-one check in calls wereconducted to understand the organizational needs, the needs of their young creatives, and the resources
needed to successfully deliver programming through a virtual model. The primary goal for all of the 25 grantrecipients was to continue to connect with their young creatives and provide a space for creative expression
during these unknown times. These regular virtual programming sessions became a source of inspiration andconsistency for many young creatives, providing a sense of community even virtually.

Shilpa Sayura Foundation

JAYU

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The following section outlines how the TIG team collaborated with each grant recipient to support the successful
delivery of their projects:

Addressing the Digital Divide
The digital divide in our communities became more prominent during this global pandemic. Many young creatives
reached by these organizations do not have access to personal devices and/or the internet to continue toparticipate in virtual programs from home. To address these issues, the TIG
team increased the amount up to a maximum of 50% ($5,000) of the grant funds
for organizations to use to purchase hardware and Internet connectivity for
their young creatives. Many organizations have been utilizing this new amountto buy hardware to start Device-Loaning Programs and subsidize the data andinternet bills for their young creatives.

Technical Support
To support with setting up the Device-Loaning Programs, TIGʼs Technical Support
team worked closely with organizations to determine the best hardware devices topurchase and developed a distribution plan for the Creative Cloud Shared Device
licenses. The technical support team also worked closely with the organizations to
install the Creative Cloud Shared Device licenses on devices of organizationsʼ staﬀ
members, teaching artists, and new devices purchased for the Device-Loaning Programs.

Curriculum Revamp
TIGʼs Grant Program Management team had one-on-one check-ins with all 25
Project grantees. During these calls, the organizationʼs program coordinators were
given guidance on how to best revamp their curriculum to reach and inspire young
creatives through virtual program models. Additionally, organizations received
feedback on their engagement plans, technical tools to use for virtual engagement,
and overall curriculum to continue to engage and inspire their young creatives.

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Virtual Programming Resources
The topics, ideas, suggestions, and tools that were shared by organizations during the oneon-one check-ins were converted into resources that were shared with the entire
Adobe Creativity Grants network. The Best Practices in Virtual Program Delivery
and Virtual Programming Peer Recommendations are two resources that were
curated and shared with all the organizational leads. These resources provided
insights on virtual engagement tools, virtual platforms, and other recommendations
from other creative youth organizations for transitioning in-person programming models
to virtual programming models.
Furthermore, the TIG team compiled short instructional

videos for organizations to share with their young
creatives. These instructional videos are less than 10
minutes long and provide step-by-step instructions on
how to use tools and resources for continuing to create
media pieces while sheltering at home due to the COVID
19 pandemic.

• Embracing Virtual Learning: Toolkit for Developing
Engaging & Innovative Digital Media Virtual Programs• Create to Learn App• Adobe COVID 19 Resources
JAYU

To learn more about the projects implemented by the Adobe Project Grant and itʼs impact, please see Appendix 2.

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IV. PARTNERSHIP MANAGEMENT & VIRTUAL ONLINECOMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
To support and build upon organizational partnerships and to form a sense of global community, the TIG
team: hosted webinars, facilitated peer-to-peer learning opportunities for organizational leaders, provided
support calls, developed resources, and hosted online events for young creatives to connect with one anotherthroughout the Adobe Creativity Grants program. This section outlines the following webinars and events thatwas facilitated by the TIG team:Partnership Engagement Webinars
The Partnership Engagement Webinars were facilitated every six weeks with each of the three Project Grant
cohorts to form a sense of community and peer support amongst organizational leaders. These webinars
created space where organizational leaders were able to exchange ideologies, brainstorm ideas on how torevamp their programs for virtual program delivery, and how they can continue to engage and inspire their
young creatives. In 2020, because of the COVID 19 pandemic, these check-ins also became a place for peerto-peer learning as each organization navigated the best approaches to virtually engage their young creatives.

Community Films and Exploring Creativity:
A Virtual Summit
To continue to create new innovative virtual spaces foryoung creatives to connect and converse with one anotherduring the COVID 19 pandemic, TIG hosted Community
Films and Exploring Creativity: A Virtual Summit. Over
three days, this virtual summit brought together 35 young
ﬁlmmakers from Canada, Sri Lanka, the UK, and the USA
to connect, collaborate, and learn from ﬁlm industry
leaders. The summit also featured 6 original short ﬁlms
that were submitted by the participants. To learn more
about this summit please see Appendix 3.

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What Does Well-Being Look Like to You?
With the global pandemic, the term well-being has been redeﬁned due to new health guidelines, physicaldistancing measures, and stay at home orders that have been placed on our communities. To facilitate theconversation of well-being during this unknown time, TIG hosted the “What Does Well-Being Look Like to You?”
Global Gallery contest. 65 young creatives from 7 diﬀerent countries submitted their interpretation of what
well-being looks like to them. From listening to music to spending time sitting outside in the sun, these young
creatives have visually displayed their meaning of the term well-being.

Creativity During Quarantine
The organizations from the Adobe Creativity Grant
network provided support, resources, and spaces foryoung creatives to continue to be creative during the
COVID 19 pandemic as we continue to follow the stayat home orders. To provide spaces and opportunities
to amplify the work of young creatives, TIG is currently
hosting the “Creativity during Quarantine?” Global
Gallery contest. This contest is open to young creatives
from around the globe to share their stories and inspire
one another during this unprecedented time.

The United Nations 26th Youth AssemblyMedia pieces from the Adobe Creativity Grants network were showcased at the 26th Youth Assemblyʼs Virtual
Cultural Exchange at Home conference. The media pieces were on issues that are important to the young
creatives, such as inequalities, well-being, gender equality, etc. and are connected to the 17 Sustainable
Development Goals set forth by the United Nations.

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Black Lives Matter Transatlantic Conversations
Fully Focused, a 2019 Adobe Creative Catalyst Award winner, led a series of virtual conversations around social
issues that are important to young Black people. Young people from 6 diﬀerent organizations and 3 diﬀerent
countries joined these LIVE conversations to share stories of their experiences as young Black people and therole organizations play in creating safer spaces for BIPOC youth.
To learn more about this initiative please see Appendix 4.

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APPENDIX 1: ADOBE CREATIVE CLOUD DONATIONPROGRAM IMPACT STORIESThis section highlights a few examples of the diﬀerent ways the Creative Cloud Shared Device Licenses were
utilized in delivering creative programming during the COVID 19 pandemic. This donation program allowedorganizations to provide virtual spaces for creative expression for young creatives as they navigated theunknowns during this unique time.

Exile RoomCreative Cloud was used in the ﬁrst
workshop of our main educational program
Planet G(reece). In this ﬁrst workshop, focused on
cinematography and still photography, we were able
to use Premiere to help the teenage participants
understand how to select shots in order to build anarrative and the diﬀerent ways you can transformthese shots within the Premiere framework. We willcontinue to use the donated software when programming resumes in September.

Besides using them in our schedulededucation programs, we have been able to oﬀer
individual sessions to kids who have shown special
interest, as well as develop programming during
self-isolation, which has inspired us to design aremote workshop series for next year.

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Bayview Hunters Point Center for Arts & Technology (BAYCAT)BAYCAT leverages Adobe software in all aspects of our free digital media arts education programming,and the donated licenses help us to ensure that we can continue oﬀering our services at no costto those who need it most. Having access to the entire Adobe Cloud Creative Suite through the sharedlicenses supports BAYCATʼs mission of tackling racism and sexismby empowering young people who face extraordinary challenges tobecome the next generation of diverse storytellers. BAYCATʼs training
allows young people to gain critical skills in remote production, editing,project coordination, and concept development, focusing on a strong
foundation in Adobe Premiere and other post-production tools. Theseskills position our young people well for roles involving editing thatare more viable career paths in this moment because so much of
production is remote. The knowledge of and experience with Adobe
software is essential for budding young artists to access creative andtechnology careers.

These licenses are particularly important in this unique
moment in time. Our target populations̶who were alreadycontending with systemic barriers to success like gentriﬁcation
and

a

lack

of

accesstoresources̶facecompoundedchallenges due to COVID-19. Free Adobe software accessible
on BAYCAT laptops that we lend to our young people enables
them to learn key skills remotely from the safety of their homes.
Adobe supports our mission as we navigate through theseuncharted waters by helping us to prepare the next generationof storytellers and propel them towards employment as the job
market becomes more competitive.

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2020

NYC Salt
Our organization currently teaches three classes: anintensive Residency for high schoolers in our studio in
Chelsea, NYC, a basic photography workshop in the LAB School
campus, and a fellowship for our emerging artists in the 18-24 year
old range who are in the beginning stages of their careers and/orcollege. Each individual uses our shared Creative Cloud Suite both inour computer lab and in their homes.

The Licenses function in our organization as the heart
which pumps blood to all that we do, as they allow our students to have access to a universal software. We use
the software exclusively for editing and it is an integral part of the teaching process, as without the software itʼs
impossible to teach our classes. Currently we have been extremely grateful to have access to these licenses as
since mid-March, we have gone completely virtual. We
have been able to assign each student a license to useon their computer at home so they could continue ourclasses, making the transition from a physical course
to fully virtual seamless.

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Reel Stories
Our current programs that are using the Adobe licenses include our Documentary Lab, Summer Lab,
Narrative Lab and Fellows Lab that focus on ﬁlmmaking from pre to post production. Through these
programs, high school students are learning to use Adobe
Apps such as Premiere Pro to develop video editing skills tocreate narratives of stories about their lives and community,
while developing their portfolios for college and/or careers inthe ﬁlm industry.

Since COVID-19 hit, we were able to install the donated licenses on laptops that were then provided
to students who donʼt have access to the software at home. Students were able to continue to make ﬁlms andﬁnish editing their ﬁlm projects as a result of these shared device licenses. Through virtual instruction of the
Adobe apps, students learned technical skills such as organizing their footage into bins, importing media ﬁles,labeling their sequences and making notes on theirinterview footage, how to implement b-roll and music
into their timeline, and basic color correction.

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Wide Angle Youth MediaThe Adobe Creative Suite is essential to our workand our workﬂow. Students in every long-term
program classroom (25+ contact hours), and many shortterm programs, gain hands-on, real-world experience with
Adobe programs. We use them daily, which has allowed
youth to gain important media productions exposure.

The in-kind donation of licenses has played a critical role in our virtual programming during theCovid-19 pandemic, allowing us to allocate our resources to remain nimble and loan out laptops with the
Adobe suite installed to high school and apprentices, so they can continue their work and media campaigns
without interruption and develop new projects and partnerships. Thanks to Adobeʼs in-kind licenses, we had
the resources for youth to plan a Virtual Prom (attended byalmost 200 youth and community members). In addition,
Design students were able to partner with Baltimore Cityʼs
Joint Information Center to create a public health campaign
directed at youth to encourage social distancing.

To learn more about the impact of the Creative Cloud Donation program, please visit our Medium publication,
Creativity Grants.

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APPENDIX 2: ADOBE PROJECT GRANT RECIPIENTSThe 2020 Adobe Project Grant recipients have found innovative ways to continue to connect and inspire their
young creatives throughout the global pandemic. 25 organizations revamped their in person programming toactively engage and create virtual spaces for creativity. These programs became outlets for expression andcreativity, and helped form a sense of “normalcy” and community in the midst of all the uncertainties during the
COVID 19 pandemic.
This section is laid out by the following types of programming:

Collaborative
Community
Skill Development
Mentoring
Summer Intensive

COLLABORATIVE
GlobalGirl Media Greece (Athens, Greece)
Initially in response to the COVID 19 pandemic, Global GirlMedia Greece decided to pause their regular in-person
programming and collaborate with their global chapters fora video series titled CORONA #IRL. 16 young females from

8 diﬀerent countries took part in this global, collaborative
program to produce short, journalistic videos that showcase
their life and experiences in their community during the early days of the COVID 19 pandemic.
In addition to this, over the summer months, Global Girl Media Greece delivered an intensive summer program in
Athens, Greece where 16 local, refugee, and migrant young women collaborated to create a mini video series,
Another Athens. This video series showcases the neighborhoods, stories, individuals and events in Athens thatinspire these young women. The curation of this mini video series aims to ﬁght refugee and migrant stereotypes
found in the media.

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StoryCenter (Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA)
The Perspective Youth Media Project collaboration between
StoryCenter and HANDY incorporated two components
to amplify the voices of young creatives: a PhotoVoiceproject,

andDigital

Storytelling.

These

two

streams

provided opportunities for the young creatives to take thelead in determining how they wanted to share their uniqueexperiences and insights into the Childrenʼs System of Care. In response to the COVID 19 pandemic, bothof these programs were redesigned to be delivered virtually with diﬀerent cohorts of participants. 28 young
creatives received technical and ethical creative photography and videography training, and took part in online
digital storytelling workshops. At the culmination of the project, the young creatives developed and implemented
a social media and advocacy campaign to educate the public on and advocate for foster youth.

Yunuén de la Mora Academia de Teatro Musical (Mexico City, Mexico)
The COVID 19 pandemic required the staﬀ members of Yunuén de la Mora Academia de Teatro Musical to not
only alter their regular programming for virtual delivery but also to add new sessions to the roster of classes
that focused on supporting their young creatives with mental and physical well-being. During and after thisunique time, the primary goal of the Academy was and is to continue to be a creative outlet and source of wellbeing and inspiration for all of their young creatives amidst uncertainties.

80 young creatives from the Academy participated in creating a collaborative audiobook that looks at theimportance of inclusivity within communities. They had the option to choose the workshops and sessions theywanted to be a part of, allowing them to choose their own creative path and to contribute to the project in a
way that was most meaningful to them. During the production ofthis collaborative audio book, youths from other local community
organizations, Sagrado Corazon de Jesus and Fundación Familiar
Infantil, worked with the Academy young creatives through ideationof the storyline and sketches of characters.

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COMMUNITY
Boys & Girls Club of Green Bay (Green Bay, Wisconsin, USA)In response to the COVID 19 pandemic, the Boys & Girls Club of Green Bay team supported their Creative Crew
members in dictating the direction of the programʼs summer curriculum. The Creative Crew team consistedof 5 members, who decided to focus on producing acollaborative media piece for their community in the formof a travelling mural. The idea for their #LeanOnMe muralproject came to life through online ideation and discussion,and collaborative design sessions that reﬂected a prominent
ongoing movement within their community and across theglobe. Once the mural was completed, this piece traveled throughout the Green Bay community, highlighting
how art and creativity can be used as a form of uncovering the veil of anti-Blackness racism and the quest for
equity for all, while continuing the dialogue and action of the #BlackLivesMatter movement.

Espaço Cultural A Era do Rádio (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
The strict restrictions set by the local government did not stop the young
creatives from Espaço Cultural A Era do Rádioʼs Girls Occupy Project tocontinue to virtually connect and contribute to their local community during
the COVID 19 pandemic. 190 young creatives connected virtually to develop
speciﬁc digital media skills such as mobile photography, graphic design, digitalcollaging, etc. and to learn how to use technology and digital media as tools to
address important social issues for girls and women in their community.
During this program the young creatives had the opportunity to connect
with local, female creative industry leaders in the digital arts to further theirunderstanding of creative careers. As the project progressed, the participants evaluated the needs of thecommunity and decided to create a mural of and for their community, highlighting the local community female
leaders from the past and present. For the culmination of the project, the young creatives produced a booklet of
digital collage art to share information about the rights of young girls and women in their local community.

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Littleglobe (Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA)In response to the COVID 19 pandemic, the Littleglobe team designed a new online TV-style program for their
young creatives to continue engaging and developing their creative expression, while connecting to the larger
community during this unique time. 16 young creatives participated in Littleglobe TV which provided the young
creatives with a purpose to continue to create by curating a platform to share uplifting stories about the SanteFe community during the ongoing pandemic, in addition to opportunities to develop their digital media skills.
For this new virtual program, the Littleglobe team partnered withother local communities to reach and better support these young
creatives to connect and collaborate on episodes. These Littleglobe
TV episodes consist of mini-stories, songs, interviews, jokes, andother elements that share the day-to-day stories of people fromSanta Fe during this pandemic to celebrate their communityʼscreativity, resilience and humor in the face of uncertain times.

Salt Lake City Prayasam (Kolkata, India)
Salt Lake City Prayasamʼs ongoing project PERIOD wasredesigned to be delivered virtually during the COVID
19 pandemic. The main purpose of this project is to use
media as a tool to address the topic of menstruation
amongst the community at large, changing attitudes
and outlooks on the subject. Given the digital divide
and lack of access to internet and data, the Salt Lake
City Prayasam team set up ﬁve wiﬁ zones in theircommunity to support young creatives with accessing
the resources required to complete this project. 375
young creatives participated in this project. They created short ﬁlms, podcasts and photo stories to foster
dialogue and understanding to create an environment where menstruation isnʼt a taboo. The media pieces
created were showcased in a virtual ﬁlm festival and online exhibition.

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SAY Sí (San Antonio, Texas)
The SAY Sí team used the COVID 19 pandemic as inspiration for their project Quaranteen Time Capsule.
The aim of this project was to create a space for their young creatives to capture their experiences of all theelements of their daily lives during this unique time in history throughmedia pieces of their choice. This project allowed the SAY Sí team tocontinue engaging with their wider community in a new virtual setting,while young creatives continued to develop their media making skills. 98
young creatives submitted artwork for the time capsule. These artworks
consisted of: visual arts pieces utilizing a variety of techniques, comics,
photography, digital art, pixel art, sketching, podcasts series, ﬁlms,
interactive ﬁction, machinima and performing art productions.

Venice Arts (Venice, California, USA)The young creatives from Venice Arts wanted their project to focus on
youth experiencing homeless in their community. However, due to the health and physical distancing guidelines
in place in response to the COVID 19 pandemic, the Venice Arts team reimagined their original plan for a
multimedia docu-series to be produced through virtual collaboration. The new virtual curriculum consisted of awide range of skill development and peer collaboration opportunities. 10 participants connected virtually andproduced short-ﬁlms using archival footage and interviews conducted through web conferencing video calls tobring a diﬀerent perspective on youth experiencing homelessness in their community.

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SKILL DEVELOPMENT
Free Spirit Media (Chicago, Illinois, USA)Free Spirit Mediaʼs summer Industry Pathways Cohort Training
Program was revamped to be delivered virtually in responseto the COVID 19 pandemic. This program aims to support
emerging ﬁlmmakers with access to opportunities, resources
and professionals who can help young creatives further theirgoals in developing successful, fulﬁlling careers in the ﬁlm andmedia industries. The summer 2020 program consisted of twocohort streams, Interns and Fellows. 33 young ﬁlmmakers
were part of the summer 2020 program.

Both cohorts worked closely with teaching artists for technicalprofessional development lessons such as learning editing techniques for short ﬁlms, with Fellows additionallycompleting a virtual placement. At the culmination of this program, all participants created and produced ashort ﬁlm to help build upon their creative portfolios for future employment or education opportunities.

Haiti Ocean Project (Petite Riviere de Nippes, Haiti)
In response to the COVID 19 pandemic, 200 young creatives
used a combination of archival footage and current photos
provided by local youth to produce a mini-documentary on
marine conservation and protection of Haitiʼs endangered
marine species. This mini-documentary was a collaborativeeﬀort with participants combining their ocean experienceand knowledge with delegating leadership roles to use digital
media and technology for social change. Throughout thisproject, young creatives developed and grew their ﬁlmmaking
skills from designing and utilizing storyboarding to editing footage to learning how to conduct voiceovers for a
ﬁnal collaborative product. This documentary was shared with their local community and beyond to show thevalue of Haitiʼs ocean and marine life, and the importance of marine conservation around the globe.

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Media Arts Center San Diego (San Diego, California, USA)Media Arts Center San Diego shortened their usual four hour, in-person digital media sessions to 90 minutes
each for online delivery of their Teen Producers summer program in response to the COVID 19 pandemic. The
team assessed participantsʼ accessibility to technology tocreate a digital lending library and to help redesign theircurriculum into online bootcamps which focused moreon independent learning of a topic or a technical skill.
Each weekʼs bootcamp covered a diﬀerent topic suchas: directing the actor, audio editing, colour correction,etc. These bootcamps were designed and delivered to
introduce the participant to a skill, followed by allowing
participants to engage in diﬀerent exercises to put theory into practice. 34 young creatives participated in
the Teen Producers summer program. These young creatives produced short ﬁlms about how the COVID 19
pandemic has impacted their communities ranging in topics from sports to local youth theatres to classroom
set ups in schools which are hosted on their YouTube channel.

Organization for Youth Empowerment(El Progreso, Honduras)
To best serve their young creatives during the
COVID 19 padamic, the Organization for Youth
Empowerment evaluated the digital media skills
level and access to technology for each participant.
With this assessment in mind, the team designed
various programs and cohorts of participants tobest support everyone in their creative learningjourney. 60 young creatives were divided into groups based on their level of digital media literacy skills. The
oﬀered sessions focused on incorporating the technological tools that the participants are already familiar with,such as mobile devices, to eliminate the learning curve of using new tools, thus helping participants to focus
on skill development. One of the sources of inspiration for creating media pieces was quarantine itself, whereparticipants took photos with their mobile phones to capture what life in quarantine looks like to them to curate
an exhibit called “Quarantine Through My Eyes”.

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Shilpa Sayura Foundation (Kandy, Sri Lanka)
Shilpa Sayura Foundation revamped the curriculum for their multimedia programming on Digital Photography,
Graphic Design, Animation and Video Production in response to the COVID 19 pandemic. To best support 185
of young creatives with virtual learning, the participants were divided into the groups based on their age, digitalskill level, and subject interests. The goal of this virtual program was to support young creatives with resourcesand digital media skills that allowed them to create media
pieces about social issues that are personally important tothem. To continue to build pathways to careers in the creativeﬁelds, participants connected with industry professionals
through workshops on digital media skills. By the end of thisproject, the young creatives had created short-ﬁlms using
their mobile devices, photographs capturing quarantine intheir communities, and stop motion ﬁlms.

Squeaky Wheel Film & Media Art Center (Buﬀalo, New York, USA)The Squeaky Wheel team redesigned the delivery of their Saturday Cafe program for virtual program delivery
for 10 young creatives from around the United States. This virtual Saturday Cafe program incorporated
Mozillaʼs VR apps Hubs and Spoke for virtual program delivery. The young creatives connected virtually where
they learned how they can create and utilize VR environments as a tool for learning and for self- expression,developing skills and conﬁdence with new media technology. To empower youth voice and foster leadership
opportunities, all project ideation processes included input and feedback from the young creatives. To provide
a well rounded learning environment, professional working artists were invited to be a part of the sessions for
exposure to diﬀerent art-making processes and allowed the young creatives the opportunity to speak directly
and network with working professionals for a deeper understanding of creative industries.

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Youth Art Exchange (San Francisco, California, USA)The Youth Art Exchange team had to ﬁnd innovative ways to continue their block printing programming in a
virtual setting in response to the COVID 19 pandemic. The physical distancing guidelines made it diﬃcult toprovide this program which required being in-person to learn the skills
associated with block printing. To provide an interactive and engaging
block printing curriculum in a virtual setting, the Youth Art Exchange
team redesigned their curriculum and mailed personal block printing
materials to 60 participants. The new curriculum taught young
creatives to create their own block prints at home but also had newcomponents such as drawing classes and graphic design to produce acolouring book to expand on their repertoire of skills. The new virtual
workshop sessions allowed participants to work individually on theirprints at home but also collaborate with peers to produce a productfor engaging with their community.

Zeal Hamilton (Hamilton, New Zealand)
Zeal Hamilton launched a new pilot program that aimed to teachyoung creatives how they can utilize ﬁlm to address and document social issues in their community. Thispilot program engaged 10 young people through a project-based learning curriculum which created a space
for the participants to identify leadership roles they would like to embody for the delivery of this project.
To support all the participants with their rolein the project, the Zeal Hamilton team used
instant messaging to keep in touch and shareimportant information such as equipment
pick-up dates and times, ﬁlming timelines, etc.
By the end of the project, the participants
created a mini-documentary on “What young
people want and need in times like these” inresponse to the COVID 19 pandemic.

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2020
Heaps Decent (Sydney, Australia)
Heaps Decent launched a new pilot program to teach young creatives how they can develop an interactive
Virtual Reality (VR) experience to engage the community on important social issues. This program virtuallyengaged and provided 56 young creatives with the resources to create a VR platform that showcases young
voicesʼ concerns of the impact that climate change has on Australia. To develop this VR platform and learn new
digital media skills, the young creatives connected on a
weekly basis for activities led by teaching artists thatspecialize in ﬁlmmaking, sound design and multimedia.
In this VR platform, the young creatives utilized
photography, ﬁlmmaking, digital art, special eﬀects, andmusic production to share their voice and calls to action
regarding what communities can do in response to theclimate change crisis.

MENTORING
Las Fotos Project (Los Angeles, California, USA)The Las Fotos team evaluated and revamped their Community Arts
Programming to continue to engage 100 young creatives in a virtual setting
in response to the COVID 19 pandemic. This program consists of threepathways of learning: Está Soy Yo (ESY), Digital Promotoras, and CEO(Creative Entrepreneurship Opportunities). The three pathways supported
young creatives with their self-empowerment journey as artists, enhancing
youth agency in the community, and teaching workforce skills. They developed
their digital media skills in photography and learned how to utilize storytellingas a tool to identify and address community issues that are important tothem. Additionally the young creatives created multimedia presentations
and social media campaigns to showcase and advocate for their community
stories. Lastly, the young creatives in the CEO program worked with mentors to improve gender equity inprofessional photography and explored future employment opportunities within the photography industry.

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2020

SUMMER INTENSIVEFirst Exposures (San Francisco, California, USA)First Exposures revamped their Summer Intensive Residency
program to be delivered virtually for 29 mentees in responseto the COVID 19 pandemic. These mentees worked closelywith mentors to take their photography and editing skills to a
new level. Through virtual sessions, mentors used a projectbased curriculum to teach new skills that allowed the mentees
to work conﬁdently towards a tangible project goal to produce
media pieces while in quarantine. These sessions included activities that required students to get up and do alesson exercise, and utilized breakout rooms for peer-feedback. The content and delivery structure style of thesesessions was evaluated weekly and revamped accordingly to the needs and the learning styles of the young
artists. The culmination of this project resulted in three online exhibitions of their work.

DreamYard (Bronx, New York, USA)The DreamYard team reimagined their paid summer WorkBased Learning (WBL) internship program for a digitalspace in response to the COVID 19 pandemic. Throughthis internship, 388 young creatives were divided into
two cohorts to best support with resources to complete
their internships and create digital media portfolios intheir respective creative ﬁelds using a project-basedlearning structure. Internships focused on: Human andCommunity Centered Design, Music Production, and Journalism and Gaming, where each young creative was pairedwith an employer within the creative industry to produce multiple media pieces. In addition, each young creative
was provided with a mentor who is currently studying in the same creative ﬁeld to give guidance and feedback on
their portfolios. The aim of this internship is to provide young creatives with workplace experience and digital media
portfolios to utilize for future employment opportunities and secondary education.

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2020
JAYU (Toronto, ON, Canada)
In response to the COVID 19 pandemic, JAYU developed anddelivered their iAM programs virtually which brought together

145 young creatives from diverse backgrounds to connect indeep meaningful ways. Through these various summer programs,
the young creatives learned skills that taught them to use digital
media as a tool for positive social change. Additionally, to address
technological access during this time, the JAYU team facilitatedonline workshops to provide resources and guidance on how young
creatives can use their mobile devices to shoot photography andﬁlms and create digital collages. These sessions primarily focusedon guiding these young creatives to explore and determine theirpersonal style as an artist.

Mile End Community Project (London, UK)
Mile End Community Projectʼs FAME (Film and Media Empowerment) was initially designed in response to how
young creatives can utilize their mobile devices to create content through tools they already have access to. In
response to the COVID 19 pandemic, the 25 young creatives who virtually participated in this program learned
how they can utilize their mobile devices to shoot and share their spoken word poems and create media pieces
that can be added to their creative portfolio for future career opportunities. To best support each participantʼslearning style, the Mile End team had one-on-one
on-boarding calls with participants to learn about
their interests, other commitments outside of thisprogram, and how they best learn. Additionally, theMile End team reached out to prominent community
leaders to be a part of the program as guest speakers
and teaching mentors to inspire the young creatives
with their media pieces. This project culminated ina virtual showcase for the spoken word poems thatwas produced through the FAME project.

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2020
URGENT, Inc. (Miami, Florida, USA)
Urgent, Inc. created and implemented their ﬁrst ever, fully virtual work placement internship during the summerof 2020 in response to the COVID 19 pandemic. Over the course of seven weeks, 26 participants connected
ﬁve days a week to learn new skills and work with their employers to complete assigned projects. This virtualinternship used a combination of a project-based approach andcollaborative workspaces which allowed participants to delve
into digital media, communications and entrepreneurship. The
participants were divided into three remote cohorts, with eachcohort focusing on a diﬀerent dimension of learning within thecreative content industry ‒ covering all aspects and phases ofa producing a media project ‒ Development, Pre-production,
Production, Post Production, Exhibition and Distribution.

Womenʼs Voices Now
The typical in-person ﬁlmmaking summer camp, Girls Voices Now, was redesigned to be delivered using online
engagement tools in response to the COVID 19 pandemic. For three weeks, 19 young girls connected virtually ﬁve
days a week to learn skills that allowed them to shoot short-ﬁlms using their mobile devices, hear from industry
leaders, collaborate with their peers, and receive one-on-one feedback from their mentors. To acknowledge thelack of physical social interaction and to support combating video conferencing fatigue, health and mental wellbeing sessions were incorporated as a part of thecurriculum. These sessions and workshops provided aspace for everyone to pritozie their health and mental
well-being and helped with forming close friendships
and bonds among participants and instructors, which
resulted in everyone feeling less isolated. The Girls
Voices Now 2020 summer camp culminated with theirﬁrst ever virtual ﬁlm screening showcasing the shortﬁlms produced by the participants.

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APPENDIX 3: COMMUNITY FILMS AND EXPLORING CREATIVITY:
A VIRTUAL SUMMITThe TIG team was initially planning an in-person gathering
for young ﬁlmmakers from selected organizations in
the Adobe Creativity Grants network. However, due tothe COVID-19 pandemic, the TIG team reimagined thisevent to be delivered virtually in order to create further
opportunities for young creatives to connect and learn
from one another.
The new virtual nature of the summit allowed the TIG team to open the invitation to all the organizations fromthe network, bringing together many young people and community leaders in ways that may not have been
seen as possible before. Each organization had the opportunity to nominate young ﬁlmmakers to be a part ofthe very ﬁrst Community Films and Exploring Creativity: A Virtual Summit. The young ﬁlmmakers then had theoption to submit a short-ﬁlm to be featured as a part of this virtual summit, in addition to sharing which topics
they wanted industry leaders to focus on during the professional development sessions.

11 short-ﬁlms were submitted and 6 original short ﬁlms
were featured at the virtual summit. These short ﬁlms
explored social issues such as: identity, immigration,and environment and how it impacts them personallyand their local communities. These young ﬁlmmakers
from selected ﬁlms also took part in LIVE Q&A sessions
sharing their creative process in producing their shortﬁlms and their ongoing journey within the ﬁlm world.

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Throughout the three days of this virtual ﬁlm summit, 35 young ﬁlmmakers from Canada, Sri Lanka, the UK, and the
USA connected, collaborated, and learned from industry leaders in the following professional development sessions:

Using Mobile Devices for Photography & Film:
Without current access to professional level
equipment and hardware, many of the young
ﬁlmmakers wanted to learn how to use theirmobile devices for photography and producing
ﬁlms.

Facilitators Maliha and Shanik, from

JAYU, dove deeper into the tools that areavailable for mobile devices, tricks they can use to capture their shots, and resources to help the young
ﬁlmmakers on their next creative project.

Digital Storytelling: This session was led by international award-winning ﬁlmmaker, director, and casting
director Ron Leach. Ron shared about his many roles within the ﬁlm industry and how storytelling should be at
the heart of each media piece created. He provided some tips and tricks he has learnt throughout the years andresources that he uses today to support his ongoing creative journey, from books to having a mentor. Lastly,
he encouraged all the young creatives to push the boundaries and explore new topics through their storytelling.

Indigenous Filmmaker: The young ﬁlmmakers wanted
the opportunity to converse with an Indigenous ﬁlmmakerto learn more about how they too can ﬁnd inspiration
in

their

communityandculture.

Patrick

Shannonshared about his creative journey and how he became
a ﬁlmmaker. He mentioned the importance of

young

ﬁlmmakers incorporating more about their communityand culture at every chance they get into their work. By
doing so, these young ﬁlmmakers will give their work aunique perspective into topics that are important to themand their community.

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2020
Drones: Ryan Rizzo, the founder of Terresky, led a Drones
101 session. During this session, he covered the diﬀerent
ways in which drones can be used for storytelling, suchas providing diﬀerent viewpoints to data collection. He
reviewed the rules and regulations around the use of thisever advancing technology, and highlighted the diﬀerent
styles of drones available.

Furthermore, the young

creatives were able to view a few diﬀerent videos that
captured the many uses of drones and the potential career
opportunities that exist within this ﬁeld. Lastly, all participants were given the opportunity to enroll in a course
designed by TIG and Ryan Rizzo that would allow them to apply for their drone operating license.

Careers in Filmmaking: The virtual summit ended with a panel on Careers in Filmmaking. Industry experts,
Jamie Whitecrow (Filmmaker), Jimmy Blais (Actor), Melissa Jim (Production & Clearance Coordinator), andMichael Lobel (Actor, Editor, Multi-instrumentalist, and Producer) talked about their career journeys in theﬁlm industry, sharing insights, resources and advice from their experiences. This session provided the young
ﬁlmmakers with the opportunity to see the multiple paths they can take as they explore their own creative andcareer journeys in ﬁlm.
With the culmination of the event, each participant was sent a certiﬁcation of recognition for their completionof the professional development sessions. Additionally, all participants received the resources: The Artistsʼ Way
by Julia Cameron and Journey of a Social Innovator: A Guided Journal by Jennifer Corriero to support theirlearning journey as a creative. Lastly, two lucky participantsʼ names were picked randomly from a draw, andwon an iPad Pro and Apple Pencil and a GoPro HERO 5 bundle.

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2020

APPENDIX 4: BLACK LIVES MATTER TRANSATLANTICCONVERSATION INITIATIVE
Fully Focused, a 2019 Adobe Creative Catalyst Awardwinner, led a series of conversations among young
people from Canada, the USA, and the UK, where
they were welcomed to share: their experiences asa young Black person in their communities, theirexperience with racism, and how community leadersand organizations can support their healing process,and create safer spaces to catalyze change. All
young people from the Adobe Creativity Grants
network were invited to participate: as active participants during the live conversation, contributing to the live
conversation by emailing conversation points beforehand, and/or taking part in the live conversation by using
chat features only. Participants were also encouraged to join the conversation to learn how to be a better allyto their peers who are Black, Indigenous, and other people of colour.
To support the young people in preparation for the

live, three hour session, Fully Focused facilitated 13
preparation sessions with organization leads and their
young people. For these sessions, the Fully Focusedteam facilitated conversations to determine the structure
and the goal of the live conversation. The participants
collaborated to decide that the live session will focus on
the following four themes: youth voice & empowerment,
knowledge & education, community empowerment, and opportunity & growth, with the overall arching theme toencompass an approach that centers love at itʼs core when exploring these themes. Participants who chose notto participate by speaking during the live conversation contributed their points to each theme through a working
Google document. Young people from Artists for Humanity (USA), Better Youth (USA), Boys & Girls Club ofGreen Bay (USA), Destiny Arts (USA), Fully Focused (UK), Reel Youth (Canada), and RYSE (USA) contributed
to this document and the structure of the live conversation.

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Each theme covered the following points during the live conversation:

Youth Voices & Empowerment• Value and teach the young as they are future• Project Black youth in all spaces by calling out white supremacy and racism

Knowledge & Education• Diversity, equality, and inclusion• Self love and building a community

Community Empowerment• Holistic and comprehensive support in our education careers• Identify what communities need to improve• Global knowledge of who and how to contract to apply mass pressure to makepeople accountable
To create a world where everyone is entitled to basic human rights and dignity

Opportunity & Growth• Proactive and support for Black talents• Find ways to inﬂuence bringing Black communities together

Move with Love
• Challenge ourselves, ideas, and goals with love
• Listen to understand rather than listen to respond, i.e. ask questions, seek knowledge,
and understand to respond fully

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2020

The live conversation was hosted on the Fully Focused YouTube
channel: Million Youth Media. 10 young people from Better
Youth (USA), Fully Focused (UK), Reel Youth (Canada), RYSE
(USA), and Urgent Inc. (USA) conversed in the 3 hours long
live conversation in addition to live polling and interaction fromaudience matters. 54 viewers viewed the live conversation and

3,106 have viewed the recording. As a result of this initiative,these participants have decided to collectively develop a toolkit
that organizations can use to reﬂect on how they are creatingsafer spaces for young Black people to voice their opinions,amplify their work, and be a catalyst for change.

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