By Tiffany Self & Déjà Bailey At Big Thought, equipping all youth to imagine and create their best lives and world is our North Star; it informs how we approach our work. Empowering youth by building their creative muscle, developing social and emotional skills and well-being, and fostering their authentic voice is the Big Thought way. We strive to provide experiential opportunities to our youth and community by making connections, celebrating creativity, and thriving through play. Through play, youth begin exhibiting personalities and preferences that establish their uniqueness and ..read more

During the 80 percent of waking hours youth spend outside of school, after school programs keep up the momentum of learning. Creative exploration, academic support, and nourishment should continue after the school day – and for youth in Thriving Minds After School, they do. At the core of Thriving Minds After School is a focus on keeping youth and families at the center. The program aims to provide after school care that goes above and beyond for students and families. This includes nutrition, homework help, and enrichment activities that tap into skillsets youth might not be aware they’r ..read more

By Greg MacPherson The current structure of our juvenile justice system is not working as effectively as possible with its limited resources and we need to make significant changes for the future of our youth. After seeing the continued success of Big Thought’s Creative Solutions program in rehabilitating and positively redirecting justice-involved youth, our team wanted to look deeper into the current workings of the juvenile justice system and find more opportunities to keep young people out of the cycle of reoffending. What we discovered was a major gap between youth who go directly from ju ..read more

The transition into adulthood includes countless “firsts” – a first resume, first job, first college experience, first time moving out, first chance to pursue a passion. Navigating those firsts can have many moving parts, like staying connected to a community and finding the right resources when they’re needed. Vincent Coronado wears a hat for each need: mentor, career advisor, resume builder, and resource connector, to name a few. In his role as Big Thought’s Opportunity Advisor, Vincent works closely with youth entering young adulthood who have previously participated in Big Thought programs ..read more

For Sean Walker, his family’s openness about mental health was a resource for navigating life in college. His parents, who had experience in school counseling and social work, were consistent in discussing mental health at home. Later, he would later realize that wasn’t typical for all families. “My dad has always meditated and emphasized how important allowing time for yourself is. Growing up, I saw a Black man go into his room, close the door and listen to music, stretch and do yoga. He was very intentional about setting an example and giving me coping tools,” Sean says. “My mom was a big pr ..read more

Big Thought presents Truth Versus Perception, a multi-part series that intimately explores and shares experiences of the Fellows in The Fellowship Initiative designed to dispel the negative, perceived notions of young men of color. These are their words. Their experiences. Their truths. Listen and unlearn. Over five years ago, Sean heard about The Fellowship Initiative during a lyceum at Dallas ISD’s Barack Obama Male Leadership Academy. Sean was already considering college because of conversations with his parents. Sean’s parents enrolled him in The Fellowship Initiative during his sophomore ..read more

Big Thought presents Truth Versus Perception, a multi-part series that intimately explores and shares experiences of the Fellows of The Fellowship Initiative designed to dispel the negative, perceived notions of young men of color. These are their words. Their experiences. Their truths. Listen and unlearn. As the only child of a single mother, Donavan was used to attending various camps and after-school activities. When it came to The Fellowship Initiative (TFI), he was hesitant to join the program. He agreed to try it out for a month – and was part of the program for three years. A student at ..read more

The innovation caught national attention – and it began with field trips.  Dallas is a hub for arts and culture, but for years these experiences weren’t accessible to all elementary school students. Due to budget constraints, less than 30% of elementary age students in the Dallas Independent School District were going on field trips, and many didn’t have access to any high-quality arts and cultural experiences.  PARTNERS IN LEARNING In the late 1990s, Big Thought, known then as Young Audiences of North Texas, worked to establish a partnership with the City of Dallas, Dallas ISD and D ..read more

At Big Thought, we firmly believe that every young person is born with greatness. Yet the opportunity to build those assets in young people is often correlated to one’s demographics in life. These assignments that no young person chooses, such as race, socioeconomic status and zip code, have real impact on their options.  Read the full article. The post How Nonprofits Can Close The Opportunity Gap And Prepare Youth For The Future appeared first on Big Thought ..read more

Our organization, Big Thought, was hosting a showcase created this past spring break by an amazing group of teenage young creators. The program, Artivism, invites youth to tap into that powerful element that has forged the entire nation’s sense of propriety and purpose–youth voice. Tell stories that move people to action. As I sat in the audience listening to their talk-back after a beautiful documentary short displaying their work, I was in awe. First, at the remarkable self-awareness from people so young. But also, the words they shared left a deep imprint: “I’m a 20-year-old ..read more