We would like to take time to highlight one of our members, Wide Angle Youth Media, for their dedication to inspiring creativity and confidence in youth. Their organization serves individuals from ages 10 through 24 years old. They have engaged over 7,275 youth across Baltimore City over these past 23 years by providing necessary professional resources and support to Baltimore-area youth. Being a member of Maryland Nonprofits for over 20 years, they have a unique perspective and view of our organizations, Executive Director, Susan Malone says,
“Over two decades of membership, Maryland Nonprofits has always provided legal assistance, policy support, foundation directory access, and nonprofit administration workshops, but during the pandemic, membership was critical to our organizational health. They provided policy support, and guidance that helped our team navigate new policies from remote work to bylaw changes necessary to support board leadership.
They organized members to advocate for local, state and federal funding and provided a community to lean into supporting HR, staff wellness, and Covid policy regulations. They pivoted to provide virtual actionable workshops in diversity, equity and inclusion, grant support, policy navigation, and built a community with our nonprofit peers, and advocated for equitable compensation for nonprofit workers. They have continued to build bridges to bring cost-effective or free workshops to organizations in MD, and are branching out to support strategic planning, evaluation, and more. Thanks to their efforts, we were able to navigate applying for local funds from the Office of Recovery, and our first federal earmarks, as well as PPP loans and state grants through the Department of Commerce.”
Mission
Through media arts education, Wide Angle Youth Media collaborates with and amplifies the voices of Baltimore youth to engage audiences across social divides. They are driven to display the diversity of society on screen through guiding young photographers, actors/actresses, videographers, designers, and more! Their programs inspire creativity and instill confidence in young people, supporting them to navigate school, career, and life.
Values
Wide Angle Youth Media is dedicated to creating an environment where everyone can see themselves reflected in media, but particularly historically minoritized and marginalized communities. They work to give equitable access to individuals that are not represented in the media by providing professional equipment and resources.
- Sustainability: Promote work/life balance and maintain capacity without overworking staff, so that everyone can do their best work in service of the mission.
- Relationship-building: Foster a sense of belonging, value the whole self. Honesty and storytelling are part of the “connective tissue” that builds and sustains healthy relationships for all stakeholders and promotes brave spaces at WAYM.
- Life-long Learning: Prioritize education, career, creativity, and professional development opportunities of students, staff, and board.
- Authenticity: Act with intentionality and integrity across the organization as well as with current/potential partners and funders.
- Compassionate Accountability: Staff, students, and board fulfill their roles and responsibilities with empathy and understanding at all levels. Implement equitable accountability to ourselves, one another, and the mission through open communication, collaboration, and autonomy.
Programs
Wide Angle Youth Media provides a multitude of programs broken down by grade level to meet every student where they are academically, socially, and emotionally. Youth have different classes offered to them based on what grade level they are in. The classes are taught by various professionals in the field as well as apprentices, interns, and students!
Middle School
These workshops are held for youth aged 10-14 and aim to help youth explore and embrace their creativity. Through these workshops, youth are also able to gain a deeper understanding of their community and how they impact it. Baltimore Speaks Out: Storytelling Media Sampling is a program offered to middle school students that allows them to explore four different ways of storytelling, Video, Audio, Photography, and Illustration to help inspire their passion. In this class, they are also able to gain service-learning hours for graduation.
High School
These workshops are open to youth from ages 14-20. This workshop teaches youth how to further develop their artistic voice, advance social justice issues through media, and grasp media literacy. The program also strives to provide their youth with the tools they will need to be successful in life by helping them to expand their media profile, develop leadership skills, and overall experience and connections within the arts world. Students who complete 75% of classes can earn a $300 stipend to help assist them. The classes available to these youth are Video, The Actors Workshop, Design, and Mix it Up Media Sampler.
Wide Angle Productions
This program employs and empowers their Youth Producers, which are Baltimore City youth ages 18-24. As budding storytellers, they concept, shoot, and edit stories from start to finish. They’re guided by our professional mentors – experts with decades of experience in their fields – who teach them valuable, concrete skills that they can apply to their careers.
Milestones
- Since 2000 they have engaged 7,275+ youth in their programs including a record number of 625 in FY22. They also expanded their footprint through pilot programs in Baltimore County.
- In summer 2024, Wide Angle’s Studios at the Service Center will be relocating! Their headquarters will feature a full production studio, office space for staff and volunteers, and a gallery, allowing them to add additional educational programming and workforce development opportunities, deepen family engagement and serve as a creative community hub.
- Over the past 3 years, 100% of apprentices and interns on the team were enrolled in college and/or had other employment (vs. 82% citywide).
