Get a feel for the Academy by reviewing a few days of the schedule below. Even though this is an online academy, we do our best to foster community among the students and try to get to know you outside of intensive sessions and workshops. We also recognize that Zoom fatigue is real, so we’ve done our best to give everyone enough space and breathing room throughout the day. There will be time for reflection at the end of each day and you’ll have the opportunity to sign up for a 1:1 advising session with a career counselor. Go explore and get curious!
Monday, June 6

10:00-10:30am
Coffee and Conversation
We’ll start each day together just getting to know each other. Join us with your favorite cup of coffee, tea, juice, or whatever you need to start your morning. This is a great time to get to know your fellow Academy cohort and prepare for the day’s session.

10:30am-12pm
Vision, Mission, Strategy: Understanding Non-Profits
Faculty: Rachel Roberts
This lecture will cover all the basics of what a non-profit is, how one is formed, and what goes into creating one. We’ll examine how to create a mission statement, explore how to bring your vision to fruition, and what steps you’ll need to take to make your non-profit a reality.

12:00-1:30pm
Lunch Break!
We’ll take a break from Zoom and go eat lunch on our own. Or, if anyone wants to socialize, one of our interns will have an open Zoom session you can join. Go eat a sammy, take a power nap, and we’ll see you at the next session!

1:30-2:15pm
Case Study: Buffalo String Works
Faculty: Rachel Roberts
Refugees and Cultural Humility at Buffalo String Works: Understand and apply basic concepts of cultural humility as it concerns Buffalo String Works, a music academy that serves refugee and immigrant families.

2:15-3:00pm
Workshop: Crafting a Mission Statement
You’ll work as part of small team to craft a mission statement for a fictional non-profit you’ve been tasked to take over. Academy faculty will join your break-out rooms to provide guidance and make sure you’re on the right track.

3:00-3:30pm
Daily Reflection
At the end of each day, we’ll take time to reflect on what we covered. There may be a prompt question for everyone to consider, or it may be free time to ask questions and dig deeper into a topic from earlier. This session is always optional in case you’re Zoomed out, but we encourage you to stick around even if you just turn off your camera, close your eyes, and listen. This is our time to listen and grow together.

3:30pm-5:00pm
Advising Sessions
Register for a 1:1 advising session with a career advisor to talk about your career goals, review your résumé, or just explore the options available to you. If you haven’t registered for an advising session, then this is your free time. See you tomorrow!
Tuesday, June 7

10:00-10:30am
Coffee and Conversation: Welcome from Dean Rossi
We’ll continue to get to know one another and use this time in the morning to collect and guide our thoughts on the Academy sessions. There will also be a special welcome from Eastman Dean Jamal Rossi on this morning. Grab your coffee, tea, or juice, and get ready for the day!

10:30-11:30am
Falling in Love with Spreadsheets: How to Budget and Why It’s Important
Faculty: Stephen Biegner & Rachel Roberts
What is a budget? What is its purpose within an organization? How do you even make a budget? We’ll explore some basic budgeting concepts, talk about the differences between a personal and an organizational budget, and share some tips and tricks for Excel/Google Sheets that might make you also fall in love with spreadsheets.

11:30am-12pm
Funding Your Organization
Faculty: Rachel Roberts
Raising funds is important for any non-profit. Here, we’ll give an introduction to fundraising, how to develop relationships with donors, grant writing, and more.

12:00-1:30pm
Lunch Break!
We’ll take a break from Zoom and go eat lunch on our own. Or, if anyone wants to socialize, one of our interns will have an open Zoom session you can join. Go eat a sammy, take a power nap, and we’ll see you at the next session!

1:30-2:15pm
Case Study: Sustaining Imagine ARTS at South Shore Conservatory
Faculty: Stephen Biegner & Rachel Roberts
We will evaluate two funding scenarios that are being considered by the SSC leadership team to ensure the long-term prosperity and future growth of the program.

2:15-3:00pm
Workshop: Create a Budget
You’ll break out into your small team once more, this time to create a budget for your non-profit. You’ll also try to come up with a possible fundraising plan to help support your organizations programming. Academy faculty will join your break-out rooms to provide guidance and make sure you’re on the right track.

3:00-3:30pm
Daily Reflection
At the end of each day, we’ll take time to reflect on what we covered. There may be a prompt question for everyone to consider, or it may be free time to ask questions and dig deeper into a topic from earlier. This session is always optional in case you’re Zoomed out, but we encourage you to stick around even if you just turn off your camera, close your eyes, and listen. This is our time to listen and grow together.

3:30pm-5:00pm
Advising Sessions
Register for a 1:1 advising session with a career advisor to talk about your career goals, review your résumé, or just explore the options available to you. If you haven’t registered for an advising session, then this is your free time. See you tomorrow!
Wednesday, June 8

10:00-10:30am
Coffee and Conversation
We’ll continue to learn more about the ELA cohort, and use this time to prepare for the sessions ahead.

10:30-12pm
Keynote Lecture: ROCmusic Collaborative
Faculty: Dr. Armand Hall
Dr. Hall will discuss the ROCmusic Collaborative, a local el sistema inspired program that strives to provide tuition free music instruction to the youth of the Rochester NY communities.

12:00-1:30pm
Lunch Break!
We’ll take a break from Zoom and go eat lunch on our own. Or, if anyone wants to socialize, one of our interns will have an open Zoom session you can join. Go eat a sammy, take a power nap, and we’ll see you at the next session!

1:30-2:15pm
Case Study: The ROCmusic Collaborative
Faculty: Dr. Armand Hall
One challenge that ROCmusic faces is the lack of a written document that specifies the expectations for each member organization. As this case explores the inner-workings of the ROCmusic Collaborative, the reader is tasked with imagining how a Memorandum of Understanding among the partners could be revised to deliver outcomes for students and the community.

2:15-3:00pm
Workshop: TBD
After digging into the case study, Dr. Hall will guide your small group through a workshop focused on community engagement and how your organization functions.

3:00-3:30pm
Daily Reflection
At the end of each day, we’ll take time to reflect on what we covered. There may be a prompt question for everyone to consider, or it may be free time to ask questions and dig deeper into a topic from earlier. This session is always optional in case you’re Zoomed out, but we encourage you to stick around even if you just turn off your camera, close your eyes, and listen. This is our time to listen and grow together.

3:30pm-5:00pm
Advising Sessions
Register for a 1:1 advising session with a career advisor to talk about your career goals, review your résumé, or just explore the options available to you. If you haven’t registered for an advising session, then this is your free time. See you tomorrow!
Thursday, June 9

10:00-10:30am
Coffee and Conversation
We’ll start each day together just getting to know each other. Join us with your favorite cup of coffee, tea, juice, or whatever you need to start your morning. This is a great time to get to know your fellow Academy cohort and prepare for the day’s session.

10:30am-12pm
Keynote Lecture: Cultivating Creative Communities
Faculty: Melissa Ngan
Fifth House Ensemble has placed the collaborative spirit at the center of its mission and work, which spans adventurous cross-media performances, arts-integrated educational programs in schools and social service settings, civic practice projects with non-arts-focused community partners, and emerging artist training. Drawing on stories from the ensemble’s early days to the present, Founder Melissa Ngan shares the ensemble’s path of listening, learning, and co-creation.

12:00-1:30pm
Lunch Break with Rachel Roberts
On this day, we’ll host a special lunch with IML Director Rachel Roberts. She’ll be there to talk up and answer questions about the Masters in Music Leadership program (which she also runs), or she might let you grill her on trivia from “The Office” (she knows everything). This lunch is optional, but for those interested in this degree, be sure to show up with your victuals and questions ready to go!

1:30-2:30pm
Relationships Are Your Greatest Currency
Faculty: Melissa Ngan
Whether you are starting a new venture, promoting your artistic practice, or leading a large organization your success will ultimately be defined by the quality of your relationships. In this session, we’ll develop your practice of creating meaningful, authentic relationships in an ongoing way –in person, via phone meetings, and online –that will sustain you and your work for years to come. We’ll also go over the toolkit and habits that will help you tell your story through images, print/online materials, and social media.

2:30-3:00pm
Workshop: TBD
You’ll break into your small groups once again and be guided through an interactive workshop focusing on your network and your story.

3:00-3:30pm
Daily Reflection
At the end of each day, we’ll take time to reflect on what we covered. There may be a prompt question for everyone to consider, or it may be free time to ask questions and dig deeper into a topic from earlier. This session is always optional in case you’re Zoomed out, but we encourage you to stick around even if you just turn off your camera, close your eyes, and listen. This is our time to listen and grow together.

3:30pm-5:00pm
Advising Sessions
Register for a 1:1 advising session with a career advisor to talk about your career goals, review your résumé, or just explore the options available to you. If you haven’t registered for an advising session, then this is your free time. See you tomorrow!
Friday, June 10

10:00-10:30am
Coffee and Conversation
We’ll start each day together just getting to know each other. Join us with your favorite cup of coffee, tea, juice, or whatever you need to start your morning. This is a great time to get to know your fellow Academy cohort and prepare for the day’s session.

10:30am-12pm
Non-Profit Shark Tank
We’ll start the day by breaking into your small groups for 45 minutes so you can finish preparing a quick 3-5 minute pitch for the organization you’ve been building all week. In the last 45 minutes of this session, you’ll use what you’ve learned about mission building, budgeting and fundraising, cultivating community, and networking and vision to pitch your non-profit to the Academy faculty. Everyone will get a chance to vote for a winner. And yes – there will be prizes!

12:00-1:30pm
Group Lunch Break!
We’ll break from 12-12:30pm to have a rest from Zoom. At 12:30pm we’ll all log on and have a group lunch together where we can just socialize and chat on our final day of the Academy.

1:30-2:00pm
Lecture: The Art of Hope
Faculty: Mark Rabideau
What if we were to think of our life’s work as our masterpiece? And the life of an artist-entrepreneur as an agent for positive change? This lecture re-examines an artist’s curiosity, creativity, and collaborative-nature as essential attributes for identifying the problems we are best equipped to solve, creating innovative solutions for positive change, and building a life of means, meaning, and the chance to give back.

2:00-3:00pm
Designing Human-Center Solutions for Creating Music Schools of the Future
Faculty: Mark Rabideau
The world and the profession are changing. And so must we, if we are to carry forward our most beloved traditions of the past and create audiences for our best future. Using the lens of design-thinking, students will put on their six thinking hats to explore solutions to some of the most pressing problems facing our beloved profession.

3:00-4:30pm
Final Panel – Open Q&A
Melissa Ngan, Armand Hall, Rachel Roberts, and Stephen Biegner will answer any lingering questions you have about leadership, careers, non-profits – whatever you want to talk about!

4:30pm-5:00pm
Daily Reflection
This will be our final reflection time, and we ask that everyone join us to share your thoughts about what you learned, what surprised you, or ask any final questions.