The Thoma Art Foundation is delighted to introduce its 2020 cohort of Thoma Equity Grant Partners. Serving the state of New Mexico, these organizations share the goal of creating conduits to opportunity through intentional and community-centered programming.
Be sure to check back regularly; more profiles of other 2020 Thoma Equity Grant Partner Organizations will be coming soon!
Services and Programming:
Moving Arts Española (MAE) provides high quality, affordable performing and visual arts education and free nutritional and academic support for children and youth ages 3-18. Their programs promote the creative, physical, academic, social and emotional health and well being of children and youth from the Española Valley and the surrounding communities of Northern New Mexico. MAE believes that all children and youth deserve to have access to a superior arts education and the nutritional and academic support that they need in order to succeed and thrive.
Community Served:
Children and youth from the Española Valley and the surrounding communities of Northern New Mexico, including the city of Española; the Pueblos of Pojoaque, Santa Clara, and Ohkay Owingeh; and the villages and towns of rural Rio Arriba County, including: Abiquiu, Alcalde, Cañones, Chamita, Chili, Chimayo, Dixon, El Duende, El Guique, El Rito, Embudo, Gallina, Hernandez, La Madera, La Mesilla, La Villita, Lyden, Medanales, Ojo Caliente, Ojo Sarco, Santa Cruz, Tierra Amarilla, Truchas, and Velarde.
In the News:
Santa Fe Reporter: Cover Story on Founder Roger Montoya
Hyperallergic: Youth Arts Education Means Building a More Resilient Community
CNN: Roger Montoya named in CNN HEROES TOP 10
Thoma Equity Grant Goals:
Expanding services and programming for older teens by creating additional space within their existing campus. This expansion will build on MAE’s impressive track record of serving the area’s young people by creating age-appropriate access to digital arts and media education for older teens and new pipelines to college and careers.
Why We Partnered with Moving Arts Española:
Services and Programming:
The High Plains Regional Education Cooperative (HPREC) serves eight rural school districts in northeastern New Mexico by providing innovative and research-based support and services. As the public education landscape evolves, HPREC provides expertise, powerful tools, and systematic approaches to assist school districts in meeting educational goals. NS4ed is an educational technology company based in Tennessee. They provide quality leadership, research, and guidance to educators that promote best practices leading to improvement in teaching and learning. NS4ed focuses on action-based research that leads to practice and is beneficial to policy makers and practitioners. Their model emphasizes local issues that educators face allowing systemic change from within. HPREC partnered with NS4ed to bring high-quality training, professional development, and math curricula to the teachers, counselors, and students within its member districts.
Community Served:
Covering the northeastern corner of New Mexico, HPREC serves Cimarron Municipal Schools, Clayton Municipal Schools, Des Moines Municipal Schools, Maxwell Municipal Schools, Mosquero Municipal Schools, Raton Public Schools, Roy Municipal Schools, and Springer Municipal Schools. NS4ed partners with state and local entities to provide research, policy and practice deliverables that yield high value and actionable resources. In addition to HPREC, their current partners include the New Mexico Public Education Department, the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative, Universidad Metropolitana, Measured Progress, and Digital Promise.
In the News:
NS4ed to Release Career-Focused Algebra and Geometry Curricula in Fall 2020
NS4ed Partners with New Mexico on Federally Funded Grant
Thoma Equity Grant Goals:
During the 2020-2021 school year, Thoma Foundation’s grant to HPREC will cover the cost of a virtual, three-part series for counselors, teachers, and Early College High School leaders on Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) as well as professional development to effectively implement NS4ed’s innovative career-integrated math curricula.
Why We Partnered with HPREC and NS4ed:
Services and Programming:
For over ten years, Creative Startups has provided fledging entrepreneurs in creative industries with the opportunity to build their business and raise capital through an intensive accelerator program. Headquartered in Santa Fe, New Mexico, Creative Startups serves an increasingly international community. Alumni of the Creative Startups program includes Meow Wolf, Etkie, Eat Me Ice Cream, ViaVii, and Mixtroz. Recently, Creative Startups has launched pre-accelerator labs for entrepreneurs at an earlier stage of business development, as well as the Libraries as Launchpads program, which leverages existing library resources and personnel to provide “hyper-local support to small business and entrepreneurs.”
Community Served:
Creative Startups reaches a global audience through its accelerator programs in the United States, Middle East, Europe, and Asia. 70% of its alumni are female or people of color. To date, their programs have created over 820 jobs with a combined estimated portfolio valuation of $335 million.
In the News:
Santa Fe Reporter: 3 Questions with Co-Founder and CEO of Creative Startups Alice Loy
Santa Fe New Mexican: Creative Startups will train rec entrepreneurs at 8 rural libraries
Thoma Equity Grant Goals:
Native American artists and creative entrepreneurs are challenged to make a living more than ever given the COVID-19 shutdown of art festivals and markets. But these challenges are not new: Native entrepreneurs have long struggled to build sustainable enterprises. These entrepreneurs often operate businesses in remote locations, far from markets and without the support of effective business resources. As a Thoma Equity Partner Organization, Creative Startups will partner with Indigenous communities to create a Native American Entrepreneurship Portal that brings best-in-class online learning resources, peer networks, mentorship, and support to Native entrepreneurs in New Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma.
Why We Partnered with Creative Startups:
Services and Programming:
CNM Ingenuity supports a new approach to learning that provides accelerated educational and training opportunities in key workforce areas including technology and healthcare, wrap-around support for aspiring entrepreneurs, and cooperative ventures that foster economic development and job creation. Since being established in 2014, CNM Ingenuity has made tremendous progress on behalf of Central New Mexico Community College and the economy. The mission of CNM Ingenuity Inc. is to promote the public welfare and prosperity of individuals and to foster economic development within both the private and public sectors. CNM Ingenuity Inc. accomplishes this purpose by forging links between educational institutions, businesses, industries, and government.
Community Served:
Serving communities throughout the state of New Mexico, CNM Ingenuity creates collaborative partnerships to further workforce preparation and economic development. Many of their funding partners have similar missions to provide training and resources to under-served populations. Along with Central New Mexico Community College’s long-standing impact on these groups in Albuquerque, CNMI facilitates the creation of special programs and outreach to these populations. CNMI also partners with employers to provide specialized training and professional development courses.
In the News:
CNM and United Way Partner to Create an All-Women’s Deep Dive Cohort
CNM Ingenuity’s Deep Dive Coding Wins Prestigious Statewide STEM Award
Thoma Equity Grant Goals:
CNM Ingenuity is partnering with the Thoma Foundation to deliver a UX/UI Deep Dive coding bootcamp to young adults in rural parts of New Mexico in 2021. This part-time bootcamp covers various topics, including why we need design, methods of design persuasion, UX research methodologies, software development methodologies, introduction to information architecture, data visualization, systems thinking, and the life cycle of product development. While this course is focused on UX/UI design in the context of software development, participants will also learn how this new skill can make them a valuable asset to any company, regardless of industry. The Thoma Art Foundation grant will cover recruitment and outreach, tuition, technology expenses, curricular customization, mentorship, and program evaluation for the 16 program participants.
Why We Partnered with CNM Ingenuity: