RFAs: Creative Youth Workforce Development Grant (United States)

To provide support for organizations with different levels of experience and capacity, two different grant categories will be offered and funding awarded to Sacramento based nonprofit cultural organizations and for-profit creative businesses to create high impact training and work readiness experience for youth and young adults ages 16-24.

OAC will provide grants for programs that provide youth workforce readiness, training, apprenticeship or pre-apprenticeship opportunities, skills development, placement services and/or coaching and mentoring in the creative economy.

Objectives

• The objectives of the Creative Youth Workforce Development program are to:
  • Invest in the development and expansion of high-quality programs offered by organizations that can demonstrate significant experience, industry connections and student placement rates in high potential areas of the creative economy.
  • Invest in the broader ecosystem of service providers who offer exposure to creative industries employment opportunities.
  • Provide productive opportunities for youth engagement and create pathways to future employment opportunities in growing industries.

Priority Areas

• Creative businesses and organizations in the following creative fields that are piloting or growing youth workforce programs are encouraged to apply:
  • Media Production – production of traditional, digital, and experiential media, including long and shortform film/video content, video games, extended reality, and music production.
  • Design – micro-customized design, including specialties in fashion, interior, sustainable, and industrial design and innovation.
  • Experience Creation – creativity in the fields of hospitality/event technology and music festivals.
  • Civic Innovation – innovation in civic life, including architecture, public service infrastructure, planning, health technology, and educational technology.

Grant Categories 

• Creative Youth Workforce Pilot Grants Up to seven grants of $75,000 each will be awarded to organizations with some level of experience in youth workforce training who are piloting a more formal creative youth workforce program.
• Creative Youth Workforce Program Grants Up to three grants of $220,000 each will be awarded to organizations with a strong existing youth workforce development program that they are planning to scale and will be sustainable after the end of the grant period.

Funding Information

• $75,000 grants will be awarded to organizations that are piloting a creative youth workforce training program.
• $220,000 grants will be awarded to organizations that have established youth training programs in the one or more of the four priority areas listed above and can demonstrate experienced industry-specific leadership and training providers and proven connections to job placement.
• The grants will be awarded based on a number of qualifying factors, including by not limited to the total number of applicants, completeness of an application, expense eligibility under federal regulation, and the organization’s annual operating budget.

Eligibility Criteria

• Program participants must be individuals ages 16 – 24 years of age and residents of the City of Sacramento. Priority should be given to youth who:
  • May have difficulty finding internship, apprentice, or employment opportunities.
  • Reside in a low- or moderate-income household.
  • Reside within a Qualified Census Tract.
• An Applicant must meet the minimum requirements outlined below:
  • An Applicant must be located and operate training facilities in the City of Sacramento, and primarily serve youth and young adults living in the City.
  • An Applicant must be a nonprofit organization or a registered for-profit creative business. Government entities, schools, colleges, and universities are not eligible to apply.
  • If an Applicant is a non-profit organization, it must be registered as a charitable trust with the California Attorney General: Registry of Charitable Trusts, and the California Secretary of State: Registry of Charitable Trusts. Registry verification search tool must show that the organization’s registry status is “current.”
  • If an Applicant is a non-profit organization, the organization must provide evidence of tax-exempt status pursuant to Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
  • If an Applicant is a non-profit, the organization must have been in existence for at least one full year with non-profit status prior to June 30, 2024, and be able to provide budget and program information beginning July 1, 2023, if requested.
  • If an Applicant is a for-profit business, the business must have been in existence for at least one full year prior to June 30, 2024 and be able to provide budget and program information beginning July 1, 2023, if requested.
  • An applicant must maintain a business address in the City of Sacramento.
  • An applicant must have professional staff devoted to training and mentoring youth.
  • An applicant cannot discriminate in violation of any state or federal law, including laws that prohibit discrimination based on race, color, sex, creed, religion, age, marital status, ancestry, medical condition, disability (including HIV and AIDS), sexual orientation, or gender identity.
  • An Applicant must meet the City’s requirements for general liability insurance ($1 million per occurrence). Proof of insurance must be provided prior to executing a grant agreement.
  • An Applicant must be registered as a supplier with the City of Sacramento prior to executing a grant agreement.
  • An Applicant must have a Business Occupancy Tax Certificate or exemption prior to executing a grant agreement.
  • An Applicant must disclose other Coronavirus Relief Funds received from the City (e.g. a loan through the City’s Small Business Loan Program), or other grant funds received from the City or other government agencies (e.g., PPP or EIDL).
  • Grant recipients are required to work with the City staff throughout the grant process, and all grant funds must be expended by no later than October 31, 2026.

Ineligibility Criteria 

• Youth serving organizations that have received grant funds (including Capital Region Creative Corps grants) from the Office of Arts and Culture in 2023 and 2024 are ineligible to apply.

For more information, visit City of Sacramento.