CREATECreator Force
We need support to launch Creator Force to expand and diversify the Creative Class. We will launch providing insight into the jobs that exist behind the scenes of content they are already consuming. Our “Get Paid for What” feature will highlight the roles that exist in the Creative Class. We’ll also provide free online creative classes via CreativeLive and connect young people to local nonprofits and creative companies for access to creative professionals.
Please list the organizations collaborating on this proposal.
72andSunny, CreativeLive, and Creative Alliance
Briefly tell us a story that demonstrates how your organization turns inspiration into impact.
For the last 5 years, 72andSunny LA has been partnering with the DaVinci schools as part of their mission to expand and diversify the Creative Class. As part of the programming, 72andSunny has seen firsthand the impact that access to education, hands-on opportunities, and mentorship can have on high schoolers in their career journeys, whether through office tours or semester-long internships. 72andSunny knew that this kind of program could make a huge difference in the lives of teens, but through their efforts, they could only reach 50 to 80 young people a year versus the 734,641 who live in LAUSD. Already a member of the Creative Alliance, a collective of creative companies across the country who partner on civic action campaigns, 72andSunny reached out to Civic Nation in pursuit of scaling this program nationwide—providing this incredible access to the Creative Class to teens across the US. Our teams joined forces in a perfect storm of experience, capacity, and passion to begin building out long-term infrastructure to fundamentally change what the Creative Class looks like. We aim to not only change the economies of the communities we work with, but to bring about a more inclusive and diversified Creative Class for a more just society. While this is just the beginning of our story, founded in LA, we hope to bring Creator Force to cities and communities nationwide, lasting for many years to come.
Which of the CREATE metrics will your submission impact?
Employment in the creative industries
In which areas of Los Angeles will you be directly working?
County of Los Angeles
How will your project make LA the best place to CREATE?
Many young people aren't aware that the things they love in culture-memes, videos, festivals-are real jobs. The creative sector is only a known option to few, which is reflected in the disproportionate presence of white creatives in the industry. Creator Force will launch in LA, the global hub for creative talent, working to diversify the creative field. In addition, LA’s focus to increase diversity in the Creative Class with investment by the city, corporations and nonprofits is unparalleled.
Creator Force works to drive awareness, provide inspiration and education about jobs in the Creative Class to 16-19 year olds in communities with gender and race underrepresentation in the Creative Class. These youth have never known a time without internet and mobile phones. Knowing that, we will engage them first online, specifically on social media where, on average, they login over 100 times a day.
The young people we will target face unique barriers to entering the Creative Class - first being awareness that these jobs exist. Teens’ knowledge and awareness is heavily influenced by their community- parents, teachers and friends. 81% of LA’s 800,000 young people (ages 10 to 24) are nonwhite but 44% of LA’s Creative Class is White. This demographic imbalance implies there is limited likelihood of exposure to people in the Creative Class for young people of color.
We will leverage big moments in culture, when young people are already paying attention, to create content that drives awareness around the jobs that go into creating tentpole events and festivals, producing the next blockbuster, dropping a new design collaboration, and more. This content will be promoted organically and with large media partners.
Another barrier is knowledge of how to get a creative job. Our program “Get Paid for What?” shows young people the pathways to the Creative Class which profiles of real creatives, from interns to CEOs.
The profiles will also combat the cultural perception that creative jobs are not stable and reliable. Contrarily, the Creative Class accounts for 50% of wages and 30% of jobs nationally. In California, that is $227.8 billion annually. The profiles will highlight the economic freedom these jobs provide.
We will provide over 100 free CreativeLive classes on our Youtube channel ranging from Adobe Suite, lighting for film, and more.
In 2019, we will pilot on the ground activations in LA. We will partner with creative companies to open their offices for tours, workshops, and panels to help young people visualize themselves working at these companies. We will also highlight opportunities with LA nonprofits focused on the creative fields on our website and social channels. This will further connect young people with hands-on, in-person opportunities to build their skills. In 2020, we will pilot a paid high school internship programs with 3-5 creative companies built off the program of 72andSunny and the Da Vinci Schools.
In what stage of innovation is this project?
Pilot project (testing a new idea on a small scale to prove feasibility)
Please explain how you will define and measure success for your project.
The goal of Creator Force is to see a more diverse Creative Class. To reach that goal, we will strategically engage young people through opportunities for education, change in hiring culture, and measure awareness of jobs in the Creative Class with young people. Below are our metrics for success in year one.
-Launch initiative with a large media partner and three culturally relevant brand partners to reach millions of young people across social media
-25k CreativeLive classes taken
-500k visits to our website
-150 "Get Paid for What?" profiles on our website
-40 Creative Alliance in-person events with thousands of young people
-Recruit 3-5 companies to host paid high school internships with over 25 young people
-1000 young people referred to creative nonprofit partner programs