Youth on Record is excited to announce that Stephen Brackett has officially joined their staff, rounding-out their exceptional team of eight full-time and two part-time employees – most of whom, like Brackett, are professional musicians.

Brackett served on YOR’s Board of Directors since the organization’s inception, which he co-founded with Flobots bandmates Jamie Laurie (Jonny 5 ) and Andy Guerrero (Andy Rok) in 2008. He served as Board President for four years where he supported YOR’s longtime Executive Director, Jami Duffy, in building their $2M Youth Media Studio in partnership with the Denver Housing Authority. He also helped lead the organization’s effort to rebrand from its original Flobots.org name to Youth on Record.

The Next Ten – where Youth on Record goes from here, and how Brackett will help lead the charge

Youth on Record is no stranger to growth. Over its ten years, it has grown more than 1,000%, and has become a leading nonprofit provider in efforts to increase academic achievement and economic opportunities for under-served and marginalized teens. Now, after ten years, YOR is ready to expand their reach even farther, starting first in Colorado, and then aiming for regional and national programming in communities who have identified a strong need for comprehensive youth services, and also communities that boast an artist base that is eager to work with young people.

Specifically, Brackett will partner with Duffy to oversee these expansion efforts by working with teens across Colorado to identify their needs and wants for music education, and musical experiences. At the same time, he will begin training artists throughout Colorado in an effort to prepare them to work with schools and youth serving organizations across the state.

“Something we have always done at Youth on Record is to be aware of the world that is, while also building for the world we want. And that’s what we’ll continue to do as we expand. We know that we have musicians throughout the state who desperately want to be in the schools and are eager to engage with youth. We also know that teens have a keen sense of what they need. So, I’m going to use the information that we gather from the youth and apply that to trainings for Colorado musicians. This ensures that our work with Colorado teens remains relevant, and meets the needs that the youth, themselves, have identified,” says Brackett of his new work at YOR.

Brackett was born and raised in Denver, where he attended Denver Public Schools. He has seen a decline in arts education in the public school system, and is doing all he can at Youth on Record to ensure that all young people in Denver have the tools to tell their own story – be it through music production, lyric writing, poetry, spoken word or movement. Joining Youth on Record as a full-time staff member, he says, will allow him to be even more effective in this quest.

 About Youth on Record

Ten years ago, a group of friends and local musicians from Denver had a vision to “harness the power of music and the people who love it.” They took that vision to stages, open mic nights, coffee shops, street corners, peace marches, and protests, and ultimately to middle and high school classrooms and youth residential treatment centers. Ever changing and evolving, and always putting students and artists first, this vision became Youth on Record (formerly Flobots.org), now a nationally recognized and award-winning arts education and youth development movement.

The mission of Youth on Record is to empower Colorado’s underserved youth to achieve their academic, artistic, and personal best by employing local, professional artists as their educators. The vision is for youth to discover how their voices and value can create a better world. Visit www.youthonrecord.org for more

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