The City of Sacramento’s Office of Arts and Culture invites creative organizations and businesses to apply for grants supporting impactful training and workforce readiness programs for youth ages 16-24 in the city of Sacramento.

“We’re excited to launch this initiative and look forward to seeing the impact it will have on preparing Sacramento’s youth for careers in the creative industry,” said Melissa Cirone, grants and programs manager at the Office of Arts and Culture. “This program is a valuable opportunity to empower young people with the skills and experiences they need to thrive in a competitive and innovative field.”

The Creative Youth Workforce Development program, funded through the federal American Rescue Plan Act, provides grants to support initiatives that prepare youth for careers in the creative industry. These grants focus on workforce readiness, training, apprenticeships or pre-apprenticeships, and skills development.

This funding opportunity includes grants of $75,000 and $220,000 for Sacramento-based nonprofit cultural organizations and for-profit creative businesses developing or expanding youth workforce programs in media production, design, experience creation, and civic innovation.

The grants are divided into two categories of funding:

• Creative Youth Workforce Pilot Grants: Up to seven grants of $75,000 each for organizations with some experience in youth workforce training to pilot a structured creative workforce program.
• Creative Youth Workforce Program Grants: Up to three grants of $220,000 each for organizations with established, scalable youth workforce programs that are sustainable beyond the grant period.

Programs must be tailored to serve youth ages 16-24 who reside in the city of Sacramento, with priority given to those living in U.S. HUD-qualified census tracts, adjacent areas, or the Sacramento Opportunity Zone.

A Zoom workshop for prospective applicants will be held on Dec. 5, 2024 at 4 p.m. This live presentation will provide an opportunity for applicants to ask questions about the application process and eligibility requirements.

Complete guidelines for the program can be found on the City’s website and applications will be accepted now through Jan. 10, 2025.

General questions can be sent to artgrants@cityofsacramento.org.

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