About Us
Jennifer DiFiglia, Founder
After serving in youth-centered nonprofit organizations for over 25 years, I decided to start something new. With all of the services being offered to youth and families across our cities, it’s hard to believe that anything could be missing—but there is.
In cities overflowing with professional artists of all genres and backgrounds who generate billions to the local economy, we still do not have any real way to connect young people to careers in our creative sectors, especially youth from communities like East Flatbush and Little River.
I often ask adult artists and art supporters, “When were you sparked by the arts?” In other words, when was the first time you thought, “Wait a minute, I could really do this!” Overwhelmingly, the answers are similar—the spark happens somewhere around 10 to 12 years old, when they visit a professional artist in their workspace. That exposure changed their lives. The possibility was born in that moment, and it is from that place of possibility that transformation happens.
If we are committed to creating a more diverse, equitable creative sector in our cities, if we want a sustainable workforce, and if we want the arts to remain rooted and alive in our communities, then we must focus on the children.
Even if these youth do not become the next famous artists, they will grow into adults who know how to follow their passions. And that’s powerful. Because those who learn to follow their passions embody hope to make the change they want for the world.
Join me on this journey.
—Jennifer DiFiglia
Founder, FutureCreative
*Thank you Kim Sabo-Flores for pointing the way to Rick Snyder’s Hope Theory and supporting youth everywhere!
(https://teachingpsychology.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/hope-theory.pdf)
** Thank you Isabel Tassara at Coral Contemporary Art Gallery Miami for this great photo of me and Odelle taken when visiting the Vicente Grondona opening
*** If you want to check out my bio and all the things go to LinkedIn: Jennifer DiFiglia