For the last eight years, the President Committee on the Arts and Humanities (PCAH) led by First Lady Michelle Obama have showcased and invested in the talents of young people through the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards (NAHYP).

NAHYP recognizes 10-12 outstanding creative youth development (CYD) programs from across the country. It is the nation’s highest honor “for out-of-school arts and humanities programs that celebrate the creativity of America’s young people.”

This year, two programs from Massachusetts were recipients of the award:

• The Theater Offensive’s True Colors: Out Youth Theater, the longest-running LGBTQ youth theater program in the country, which provides intensive training, artistic and professional skill building, and leadership development to youth from underserved areas
• Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción (IBA) Youth Development Program, a humanities program that prepares youth ages 13-19 for college through rigorous workshops centered on culture, social justice, and civic engagement.

“We believe that every single child has boundless promise, no matter who they are, where they come from, or how much money their parents have. And it is important to our continued greatness to see these kids as ours – not as ‘them,’ not as ‘other’, but as ours. And that’s really the power of programs like these. That’s the message that they send to our young people every single day,” said First Lady Michelle Obama during the emotionally charged NAHYP ceremony in Washington DC this week.

The NAHYP winners were chosen from 50 finalists from all around the country. Amongst the finalists were two additional Massachusetts organizations – Boston City Singers and BalletRox! – demonstrating just how much exemplary work in the field of CYD is happening within the Commonwealth.

The MCC is proud to support all four of these organizations. We salute them in this tremendous achievement.