The Spotlight for Joy Opportunity Fund

life skills ➕ community ➕ expression ➕ belonging

Mission Statement

The Spotlight for Joy's mission is to fund performing arts education in underserved public schools. But the honest question is, why performing arts? The answer is that the performing arts are consistently the most underfunded domain in public schools, even though research has proven that being immersed in a theater community can have limitless benefits for a child's development. A theater education not only provides practical life skills like communication, speaking clearly and confidently, and emotional empathy, but it can also be a safe space for children to understand who they are. These skills go along with the teaching a man to fish philosophy because children with the life skills acquired in a theater education are more likely to be able to get a job, apply creative thinking to their daily obstacles, practice healthy emotional regulation, and overall develop into the happiest, healthiest adult they can be. 

As a theater kid myself, I have seen firsthand the impact a grant for performing arts specifically can have on a learning environment. Even a small amount of money has the potential to improve the lives of dozens of children. 

Meet the board!