Launched in May 2024, the Media Career Pathways Prototype explores pathways to visual effects, gaming, animation, and music production careers for LA County for youth who have historically experienced barriers to employment.

Goals include:

• Creating pathways to family-sustaining careers in the arts and creative sectors for systems-impacted youth, systems-involved youth, opportunity youth, youth of color, low-income youth, and others who have been historically underrepresented or excluded.
• Offer California Department of Education’s Arts, Media, and Entertainment (AME) Workforce Training Initiative model, which provides industry-aligned education, work-based learning, and apprenticeship opportunities in community settings for youth who do not have access to in-school Career Technical Education (CTE).
• Address key social and structural barriers through community-embedded and culturally responsive approaches.

While research conducted for the Building Creative Career Pathways for Youth field scan suggests system-involved youth face the most significant obstacles, many other LA County youth also experience barriers to creative career opportunities, particularly Black and Latinx youth. Barriers include a lack of in-school programs, reliable and affordable transportation, and adult mentors, to name a few. These youth also face a lack of representation in the workplace, systemic racism, and a lack of social capital needed to build professional networks and navigate systems.

The Media Career Pathways Prototype will engage approximately 20 opportunity youth and/or systems-impacted transitional age youth (TAY), ages 16-26, who will participate in industry aligned, hard skills training in Media Arts (post-production and editing, visual effects, gaming, animation, music production, digital communications, and/or multimedia production), and general career soft skills training in a community setting. The prototype will use healing-centered approaches, connect youth participants with mentors, and provide wraparound services. Participants will be provided with technology and equipment and a paid stipend for completing at least 80% of the program.

The Media Career Pathways Prototype is led by and takes place at the Watts Labor Community Action Committee (WLCAC). WLCAC’s partners in this work are:

• The Alliance for Media Arts + Culture will implement:
  • Arts2Work Creative Studio: a two-year program of technical, creative, and project-based media career exploration, skills development, and mentorship for youth.
  • Arts2Work Pre-Apprenticeship: a one-year program of paid, work-based learning in digital media production and post-professional creative technology certifications, and financial literacy and entrepreneurship training.
• Heart of Los Angeles (HOLA) will lead a professional development workshop for teaching artists and a Leadership Enrichment Program that helps youth participants develop their sense of purpose and agency. Students will explore engagement with their community, develop leadership skills, and learn project management.

Harder + Co. is conducting an evaluation of the Media Career Pathways Prototype as it is implemented, to analyze the effectiveness, promising practices, and sustainability of the prototype in achieving positive outcomes for participating youth, and to inform whether the program can be replicated and is scalable.