Expanding Our Youth Programs Across the Country
Although many L.A. residents know us primarily for our Mainstage production, our youth programs impact lives year round, and have received national acclaim. Due to Will Power to Youth's success in preventing dropouts and improving the futures of participants, the Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Program and the National Endowment of the Arts have entered into an Inter-Agency Joint Agreement to support the replication of Will Power to Youth in other US cities around the country.
Strategic Plan
In 2003, SF/LA created a five-year strategic plan, which identifies three strategic goals that will help us fulfill our mission:
- Build organizational capacity to ensure sustainability of our mission and vision;
- Increase community awareness of our reputation and programming so that we become a widely and diversely supported cherished community asset;
- Create an entrepreneurial and self-sufficient model for expansion and growth.
In addition to the efforts we are making to reach the goals in our strategic plan, SF/LA is currently assembling resources to ensure that we can continue to reach out to the Los Angeles community through the next five years and beyond. Our plans include reinforcing company infrastructure, hiring new staff, and streamlining company operations to ensure the Festival’s stable platform for future growth.
Our Home
In June 2000, Shakespeare Festival/LA moved into a permanent facility located in downtown Los Angeles, in one of the most economically challenged census tracts in California. Our location provides unique opportunities to pursue long-term goals that include creating new institutional partnerships, building stronger and more permanent relationships with the community, and expanding programming for inner city youth and educators, ensuring that the legacy of Shakespeare's literary canon thrives throughout Los Angeles County.
Plan for Building Renovation
Model of proposed building renovation as seen from 1st Street.
Shakespeare Festival/LA is working with architecture firm SPF:A to plan for the future redesign of our space. This redesign will reenergize our area of downtown, making Shakespeare Festival/LA an arts and live theater destination for working professionals, as well as a creative refuge for students from nearby Belmont High School and other schools across Los Angeles. Watch these pages for future plan developments and details about our capital campaign.