Episode 55: Women's Audio Mission

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A transcript, lightly edited for clarity and length, follows.

VOC Covid 19 Podcast Women’s Audio Mission EP 55 Mix 1

[00:00:00] George Koster: Welcome to Voices of the Community, which explores critical issues facing Northern California communities. We introduce you to the voices of community thought leaders and change makers who are working on solutions that face our fellow individual community members, neighborhoods, cities, and our region.

[00:00:28] George Koster: This is George Koster, your host.

[00:00:33] George Koster: This episode is part of our series Exploring COVID nineteens impact on nonprofits and small businesses in the San Francisco Bay Area back in April of 2020 when we decided to create this ongoing series on COVID nineteens impact, first on nonprofits and then on small businesses in the San Francisco Bay area.

[00:00:52] George Koster: We like you had no idea how long the pandemic would go on and what the health and economic impact would be in our community. Going into 2021, the pandemic is now killing more people, shutting down more nonprofits and small businesses, along with wiping out the livelihoods of families, neighborhoods, and communities.

[00:01:12] George Koster: We will continue to shine a spotlight on the nonprofits and small businesses that make up the fabric of our community. Along with the founders and staff who are struggling to deal with the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their operations, services and sustainability, until we can all get to the other side of the pandemic.

[00:01:31] George Koster: Along the way, we will also share with you all the amazing solutions that our nonprofits, small businesses, foundations, and government leaders are working on to help us all get to the other side of the pandemic and come together to rebuild our communities with more economic, social, and environmental equality.

[00:01:49] Leah King: We've seen a lot of success actually because it's offered the students the opportunity to really be working on different aspects of not just audio engineering, but how to talk about the experience of COVID and the experience of being isolated from their peers of not being able to go into a school environment and really have that classroom time.

[00:02:08] Leah King: Instead, they're doing it all virtually and it's been. Really incredible to watch those communications happen and watch these new partnerships happen with students.

[00:02:15] George Koster: In this episode, we feature the voices of managing director Alina Botkin Levy and the director of Education, Leah King of Women's Audio Mission.

[00:02:24] George Koster: Women's Audio Mission is another one of our unique nonprofits that provide both skills training and a global learning community that empowers women and gender diverse individuals to develop, produce, and share their stories and the stories of our fellow community members, as well as build career pathways into the audio production ecosystem.

[00:02:43] George Koster: I'm joined remotely by Aaliyah King, the Director of Education, and Alina Bodkin Levy, the managing director of Women's Audio Mission, and thanks for being here, Leah and Elena.

[00:02:54] Leah King: Thanks for having us. Yeah, thank you.

[00:02:56] George Koster: I'm gonna have Elena provide an overview to our audience of who is Women's Audio Mission, and then what are some of your key programs, and who would you say is kind of the profile of people who participate in Women's Audio mission.

[00:03:08] Elena Botkin-Levy: Sure. And thanks for having us again, George. Happy to be here. So WAM, as we call it, or Women's Audio Mission. We just turned 18. So we had a 18th birthday just a few weeks ago, which is pretty exciting. We're now in adulthood and we were formed, and really our mission is addressing two really critical issues.

[00:03:28] Elena Botkin-Levy: So one is that it's less than 5% of the people that are creating the sounds and the music and the media. All of the things that make up the soundtrack to our lives every day are women or gender nonconforming folks, or gender diverse. Individuals, and it's less than that 5% that are women of color making these sounds in the soundtrack of our lives.

[00:03:52] Elena Botkin-Levy: And we see that as a real issue. And then the other piece of it is that there's also been this decline in women and girls enrolling in STEM college programs. Uh, 70% since 2000. And so the combination of those two issues for us is why we exist. And why we've been doing this for 18 years. So that's kind of the bigger context of why we do this work.

[00:04:16] Elena Botkin-Levy: And specifically we do that through a bunch of different programs. So our studio, which is in San Francisco, is the only one in the world that is built and run by women and gender non-conforming gender diverse individuals, which is pretty. Fantastic. It's a beautiful sparkly studio and we hope you get to come visit someday.

[00:04:36] Elena Botkin-Levy: So that's the foundation of a lot of the work that we do, both in terms of classes and training, and then also having our engineers in the studio have clients come in all the time to record sessions. So our studio is one aspect of what we do. Girls on the Mic, which Leah will talk way more about, is one of our favorite programs, which is working with girls, specifically middle school and some high school, uh, free after school training that teaches basic audio technology production skills and launches them hopefully into careers in the future.

[00:05:06] Elena Botkin-Levy: Our internship program works with interns, generally early career or college age that are looking for community and training and they support in the girls in the MIC classes and when we're. In action in the studio are helping out with all of the studio sessions and getting training, and then we have our adult ed programs, which are training in our studio hands-on.

[00:05:28] Elena Botkin-Levy: Obviously it's virtual now for folks that are looking to be part of the WAM community and get into the industry and connected to that is our WAM Con conference series. Which connects with industry professionals and folks from now around the globe in a series of conferences every year, and I've got more info about that coming up.

[00:05:51] Elena Botkin-Levy: And lastly, we have our local Sirens concert series, which is a free quarterly concert series that we offer San Francisco based at places like the Rickshaw Stop or Piano Fight, or in Oakland at Band Camp. And that highlights local women, gender nonconforming artists. That work with us and partner in the studio and highlight the incredible work that they do.

[00:06:12] Elena Botkin-Levy: So it's a broad range of work that we do all focused on kind of those critical issues that I named in the beginning and really thinking about training and education as the tool for making those changes. And Leah, would you like to talk a little bit more about the Girls on Mic program?

[00:06:29] Leah King: Yeah, so as the director of education, I run both our youth and adult programs.

[00:06:33] Leah King: And I'd say that probably one of the most exciting and also tangibly impactful programs that we have is the Girls on the Mic Training series for youth. And we have a number of different classes that we teach, but predominantly it's audio education and audio recording and engineering. And since COVID, we've been able to pivot to doing all of that virtually.

[00:06:52] Leah King: So through web-based platforms that are completely accessible via Chromebook or tablet phone, if that's how students are joining our classes, they're able to do multi-track recording, a variety of different kinds of sound design, production, and mixing, and then real time collaboration with one another to create really fabulous projects that we then have them perform at showcases every season that are live streamed on our YouTube channel.

[00:07:15] Leah King: So it's been a really thrilling process to get to work with so many different students and help them create beats. Songs, podcasts coded their own music. They're creating music for film, tv, video anime has been a very popular topic as well, so it's very dynamic and it's changing constantly to really be as responsive as possible to our students, where they're at, what they're interested in, and what our technology is capable of.

[00:07:40] George Koster: You mentioned that you pivoted like everybody and then everyone loves that word, have moved everything onto online learning. How has COVID-19 really impacted the work of Girls on Mike, but just the programming in general?

[00:07:52] Leah King: Yeah, it's definitely impacted all of our programming. So initially we did offer the opportunity to all of our students to come to our studio that Elena mentioned earlier, and they were able to have hands-on training in studio and really get involved in all the different aspects of audio production and engineering.

[00:08:06] Leah King: We also had a lot of gear that we bring to the schools for students to try as well, and so. Since COVID, we've been able to partner with a bunch of different online resources to do exclusively web-based programming. We offer all of our classes on Zoom, but then we're also able to give people on demand courses, so through Google Classroom, and then also just through emails and giving everybody a sort of curriculum, a pedagogical approach that they're allowed to, to access at any time that works for them.

[00:08:33] Leah King: And we've seen a lot of success actually, because it's offered the students the opportunity to really be working on different aspects of not just audio. Engineering, but how to talk about the experience of COVID and the experience of being isolated from their peers of not being able to go into a school environment and really have that classroom time.

[00:08:52] Leah King: Instead, they're doing it all virtually, and it's been really incredible to watch those communications happen and watch these new partnerships happen with students who are even in different schools than one another. They're able to do this collaborative projects that previously they probably would not have been able to do because it would've been in person so virtually.

[00:09:07] Leah King: We actually are seeing some different kinds of opportunities as well.

[00:09:10] George Koster: And Elena, how from a more of a global aspect of operation. 'cause so much of what Wam does really has been in person.

[00:09:17] Elena Botkin-Levy: Absolutely. And I know you think that word is being overused, but it's so true. The pivot is very real. And that was part of our story too, in making that pivot.

[00:09:26] Elena Botkin-Levy: And so, yeah, just like Leah said, everything went online and so we were able to. Both with the girls in the MIC program, but almost everything else transition to online. So we did a whole series called WAM Everywhere that were educational workshops and trainings that were available to our full network and member base.

[00:09:48] Elena Botkin-Levy: And we also offered those free online. And there's still up on YouTube so folks can go and check those out and they're pretty incredible. Then also through the WAM Con conferences, which typically we've done in person in Nashville and Boston and la. We transitioned those online and it opened up this global reach and this global audience that we hadn't been tapping into or connected to.

[00:10:11] Elena Botkin-Levy: Before, and so we had over 700 people at the online versions of the WAM Con conferences and folks, I think it was over 15 countries attend. And that was pretty incredible just in thinking about our network and our connections and the global potential and impact that we can continue to grow and have.

[00:10:32] Elena Botkin-Levy: So that's been pretty profound for us in thinking about the transition of hands on learning to. As Leah said, the virtual and the digital space.

[00:10:42] George Koster: And it sounds like it was really a wonderful opportunity, Lee, to use the moment to do more storytelling in a sense. Really to talk about the impact of that isolation, which mental health has become more in the forefront than ever before.

[00:10:56] Leah King: Yes. It's definitely giving a a bit opportunity 'cause it's like we are interested in building engineering skills. We wanna be sure that students. Feel that they have the capacity to really shape the sounds that they hear in their lives. And we wanna be sure, as Elena was saying earlier, that we're really advocating for increased representation of girls and gender expansive folks in STEM fields.

[00:11:14] Leah King: And so there's lots of different lenses with which you can approach that. And so there could be the lens of storytelling, the lens of songwriting, or the lens of community building, personal empowerment. All that really comes into how we approach our pedagogical development, and we're able to really, to use the word again, pivot to different components of education with each new thing that COVID brings our way, and also to speak to, to the adult component of it.

[00:11:39] Leah King: We've seen a lot of folks who are just interested in expanding their skillset with this increased amount of time that they have. Or they wanna maybe do a career change, or this is something that they've always wanted to learn more about and they're interested in. Yeah, telling their story or figuring out how to really advocate for themself in a personal context.

[00:11:55] Leah King: So much like what all of us are doing right now. We're in our own home spaces and using our own homes. Studios in order to get our voices out there. People all over the world wanna do that. And so we've definitely seen an increase in registrations for our adult education classes. People wanna know, how do you set up a mic?

[00:12:10] Leah King: How do you plug that in? How do you make your work happen? But then we also have more advanced technological classes like post-production sound and audio editing, and what we call our level two classes for recording techniques and microphone placement, things like that. So people can really get a lot farther and a lot deeper into different components of audio that they might wanna be exploring.

[00:12:30] George Koster: I would like to turn to one of my favorite questions that we've been doing through the series, which is to have each of you share perhaps one of your favorite stories of working at wam, and then your thoughts on the impact that Wams having on young women in our community and their families. So, Elena, would you like to go first and we'll go back to Leah?

[00:12:48] Elena Botkin-Levy: I was gonna say, Leah, do you wanna start?

[00:12:52] Leah King: Well, sure. Yeah. I mean, we do love to talk about our young folks. So I think something that's really interesting with one of the potentials, one of the positive outcomes of virtual learning is that we're finding new accessibility points for different styles of learners.

[00:13:06] Leah King: So some of our shyest students. Have really thrived in this environment. So for example, we have a student who is, was sort of, I guess out in the, in the real world, in the non-virtual learning, as known as a very shy person apparently. But in our Girls on the MIC program, she comes to every class, she shows up early, she stays as late as she possibly can, and she's volunteered to host.

[00:13:28] Leah King: Every single one of our showcase events, including one that we have coming up pretty soon, and she wants to introduce her classmates. She wants to talk about her program. She's ready to tell jokes, she's ready to collaborate. She wants to maybe sing at some point. And we had a parent and guardian in phone night, and we actually had no idea that she's a shy person until her mother came to our parent Guardian Info night.

[00:13:53] Leah King: And said she didn't know exactly what was happening in class. She could just hear all the giggling and the laughing and the noises coming out of her daughter's bedroom. And it was super helpful for her to get to know us, to get to know the class 'cause she couldn't believe that her daughter was seen as not shy in our program.

[00:14:07] Leah King: And it's given her a whole new approach to really, to learning and to interacting with other students beyond just the fact that she's creating new sounds and new projects and learning about engineering. It's also really helping her thrive as a student. So that was, I think, really moving for us to learn about.

[00:14:24] Leah King: And because making that 5% number higher, it's not just about giving people the opportunity to have these careers, it's hoping that they stay in these jobs and it's helping to educate the community, to encourage young women and gender expansive people to apply for those jobs, see themselves as potentially keeping those jobs, and then really change.

[00:14:42] Leah King: The entire perspective of how we think about audio education in STEM and engineering careers in general. So if someone can feel encouraged and supported and enlivened by what happens in our classrooms, we know that that's just gonna have reverberations throughout the rest of her life. And also for people who live like her.

[00:14:59] Leah King: So that's really what we're going for.

[00:15:01] George Koster: Thank you. Great story.

[00:15:02] Elena Botkin-Levy: I love that story. So it made me think of kind of in the pre pandemic times when students could come into our physical studio space and there's a similar transformation. There's a couple times I can remember where students. Walk into that room and see this massive console and equipment and it's, I mean, it's intimidating for me.

[00:15:24] Elena Botkin-Levy: You know, like that can be a scary space. And those moments of both demystifying, but also when they can put their hands on a fader and move. The knob and then affect something and their friend is on the mic. Like that specific, tangible moment of feeling like, just exactly what Leah was saying, like seeing yourself in this space.

[00:15:45] Elena Botkin-Levy: There's a great quote that one of the young people gave one time, which is like, I see myself as a boss in this space. Like I see myself here and that, I think Leah just said it like that. The gold right there is that ability to see yourself in the position and then learn the skills to be able to do it.

[00:16:01] Elena Botkin-Levy: So I think that's a really special, magical moment in those times. And, and I'm excited for the days when we're back in the studio doing the hands-on and now incorporating all of the virtual and, and extended learning that we've been able to do.

[00:16:15] George Koster: What comes through through both stories really is agency, just the whole sense of agency.

[00:16:19] George Koster: Mm-hmm. Absolutely. Elena, how can folks who are listening to the show support Women's audio mission, do you have a COVID-19 special project that you're working or a fund, and what do you have in the way of programming coming this summer?

[00:16:31] Elena Botkin-Levy: I got a whole list for you. So first of all, I wanna make sure not to forget our studio is open and available for bookings.

[00:16:39] Elena Botkin-Levy: So for anybody in the San Francisco Bay area that is looking for a studio to do recording, that might be voiceover work or podcast or your band. Certainly we've got all kinds of COVID protocols, but our engineers are incredible. So book some studio time, which you can do from the website. So definitely encourage folks to check that out.

[00:16:58] Elena Botkin-Levy: WAM is a nonprofit. We depend on donations and so anyone that wants to support the work that we've been talking about and the girls in the MIC program and WAM con's, we are very appreciative of any support that you can offer. So you can donate on our website, which is women's audio mission.org. All one word and then a couple things to shout out that are coming up.

[00:17:20] Elena Botkin-Levy: The WAM Con, which is our recording arts conferences. We have just as of today, put out a date for April. So April 24th is gonna be our first WAM Con of this year, and it's gonna be focused on Nashville producers, so some pretty incredible folks on the lineup. So far, Gina Johnson, the artist, cam Leslie Richter.

[00:17:43] Elena Botkin-Levy: So folks should definitely check that out. The tickets are going on sale next week and then I'm gonna toss to Leah to talk about the girls on the MIC program and how to get involved with that and adult ed classes too.

[00:17:54] Leah King: Yeah, so right now we're deep in the thick of our spring programming. We actually have a showcase that will be coming up on May 21st.

[00:18:01] Leah King: We'll be doing our Girls Alumni Spring Showcase, which will be live streamed on our Women's Audio Mission YouTube channel, think it's just youtube.com/ women's Audio mission tv. You can also navigate to our YouTube page through our website, and then all summer long, we'll be offering Girls With the MIC programming.

[00:18:16] Leah King: But you can also find out about how to sign up for those programs on our website or on our Instagram. One word, girls on the mic. We also have a women's audio mission, Instagram, which is also one word, women's audio mission. Any student. We do specifically reach out to girls and gender expansive young folks who are based in the San Francisco Bay area.

[00:18:35] Leah King: And if you're interested in us providing classes to students who are outside that demographic, definitely just get in touch. Let us know. I'm sure we could try to figure something out for you. And then for our adult education classes, we'll be offering, um, both beginning and intermediate electronic music production this summer.

[00:18:49] Leah King: And then we also will be doing our level two audio production and engineering courses. And then by the fall we will go back to our regular adult education schedule, which is our level one, and then again, level two courses, which is all about figuring out how to really get involved in studio work. So all of that will be on our website and on our Instagram.

[00:19:08] Leah King: Um, definitely feel free to reach out to us if you have any questions or, uh, wanna learn more.

[00:19:12] George Koster: Elena, we have talked about girls in the mic, which is a, a younger demographic and you do have some adult education. But with regards to the impact of WAM, I would say on the larger performing arts community in San Francisco, talk a little bit about essentially workforce training almost, and helping people who not only participate in one of Wams programs, but can conceivably get placed in jobs.

[00:19:32] George Koster: So I think that's an interesting part of your story.

[00:19:34] Elena Botkin-Levy: Yeah, it's really exciting. I mean, at one point, WAM had placed folks, either interns or folks in our field in all of the performing art spaces in San Francisco. So in terms of impact in the San Francisco environment, that I think has been a real asset that Wam has brought and really placing women and gender expansive.

[00:19:54] Elena Botkin-Levy: Specifically in the industry in San Francisco. And then beyond that too, we've placed folks all over from Pixar to National Geographic to big name artists like Andre Day, et cetera. And so the internship program is a big piece of that, and so we bring on cohorts of interns every semester. Again, it's one of those things that we have transitioned to being an online program for now and maybe into the future.

[00:20:18] Elena Botkin-Levy: And so interns. Are gaining both the technical skills and the confidence and the support to be applying for, like Leah was talking about this full range of careers in the industry and really exploring all of the different careers. 'cause a lot of the interns are coming in specifically from college programs where they're getting trained.

[00:20:40] Elena Botkin-Levy: But there's such a wide expanse of jobs and professions and pathways in this wider industry. And so thinking about all the ways that we can support them in both knowing about the jobs, applying for, having the confidence and skills to be successful is a big part of that. And so definitely the internship program is a great way for folks to kind of get access to that support.

[00:21:05] Elena Botkin-Levy: And the other way is for folks to become a member of WAM, which they can also do on our website. Site and as a member, you get a job board every other week that's curated. So it's a specific insight into that, why it expands an array of jobs that we're seeing get all kinds of perks in terms of the WAM community and codes for special products.

[00:21:25] Elena Botkin-Levy: So another access point for folks as well. So if I was an employer and listening to the story today, how would I get engaged in offering up or creating an internship program with wam? Ooh, great question. So reach out is the first thing, and let's have a conversation. So certainly if you're looking to hire folks in your company or organization, et cetera, reach out to us.

[00:21:49] Elena Botkin-Levy: And we have both our current interns and a wide list of alumni who have been through our program and we. Almost certainly can find you a really great fit for that position. And in terms of the WAM Con events and the wider WAM network, that's what we wanna do is get people jobs. And so let's have a conversation.

[00:22:09] Elena Botkin-Levy: So reach out. Chanel Igna is our intern program manager and supporting all of the interns and thinking about those partnerships with companies. So we wanna have those conversations.

[00:22:20] George Koster: And then Leah back to you. A quick question within Girls on Mic, is that tied in at all to San Francisco Unified School District?

[00:22:27] George Koster: So conceivably someone could get dual credit, if you will, or get high school credit for participating in WAM program?

[00:22:33] Leah King: Well, we have a lot of different kinds of partnerships with SFU. Right now we're working both with afterschool programs and then. School as well. So it kind of depends on what the partnership is looking like, but we do as much post-secondary readiness education as we possibly can and do career readiness as well.

[00:22:47] Leah King: So, yeah, uh, I think it, it kind of depends on which program we're working with and which school. So if you are an S-F-U-S-D, we do offer free programs to all students in S-F-U-S-D and same thing, get in touch and, uh, we can design a program for you or have your students come and join our public programs that are on offer year round.

[00:23:03] George Koster: Great. So final question for each of you. Out of our proverbial now, one year, as of today, that we shut down officially for COVID and subsequent economic meltdown, what do you feel are some of the good things that could come out of this situation to help more people engaged in WAM programs?

[00:23:21] Leah King: I think as we mentioned earlier, just increased connectivity and increased accessibility to these different forms of getting involved in audio education.

[00:23:30] Leah King: We have audio production modules in our pockets at all times these days. Cell phones can do more than you ever. Dreamed and that we can use that as your starting point. And from there we can help you figure out how to record, mix and master an album. I mean, there's just so many different opportunities and we can do a lot of this virtually.

[00:23:47] Leah King: So I think that what is it, uh, necessity is the mother of invention. I mean, there's so many different ways that we can get involved now, and WAM is here to help people really take their production, their engineering to the next level, whatever that looks like for you. And so we are offering a variety of programs that are changing constantly to be as responsive as possible to where folks are at and what folks wanna learn.

[00:24:08] Leah King: And I think that there's a lot of opportunity here, and a lot of our programs will continue to be a hybrid model. When we do have the capacity to go back into the studio, we will definitely be welcoming people back in for classes and programs and events and concerts and all the things that involve us breathing all over each other.

[00:24:24] Leah King: But then we'll also continue to have virtual programs as well to continue to reach out to people that we've been working with both nationally and internationally. It's really opened a lot of doors. It's been pretty awesome to see how many people are involved in our programs internationally. I'm a part of quite a number of women's empowerment organizations that are based abroad, and a lot of the programs that we offer have been super popular with people, so we're definitely gonna be maintaining those connections.

[00:24:47] Leah King: So I think we've opened a lot of doors here, and we'll definitely keep them open beyond COVID.

[00:24:52] George Koster: And Elena ?

[00:24:53] Elena Botkin-Levy: Basically ditto to Leah, I think. I think that all of that, it's been, you know, a really hard year and we've learned some things and I think that word connectivity really rings true for me. And thinking about as we move into those spaces where we're in person again together, how do we continue?

[00:25:11] Elena Botkin-Levy: Just like Leah said in this wider audience and thinking about the work that WAM does in these expanded and extended ways. So it's exciting both from girls on the mic to adult ed, to the studio, to WAM co to the internship, all of the ways that our web has really grown and morphed. So that's a positive thing.

[00:25:30] George Koster: Thank you. That was really great. So is there something that I haven't asked you that you would like to talk about?

[00:25:35] Leah King: Feel free to donate on our website at any time. If you're hearing this and uh, you, you aren't sure what else to do next, follow us online. Follow us on Instagram, Twitter, like our Facebook page, make a donation or get in touch.

[00:25:47] Leah King: Even if you just have some questions and you wanna know how to get involved, just let us know. We're here.

[00:25:51] George Koster: Okay, great. So thank you Leah and Elena for sharing women's audio missions work today. We'll make sure that listeners have your contact information, website and social media so they can follow women's audio missions work.

[00:26:02] George Koster: And not only follow it, but get engaged, take classes, and hopefully when we come out of our deep freeze, do it in person. Please stay safe and healthy out there as we work our way through this Very strange, new normal.

[00:26:13] Leah King: Thanks, sir. Yeah, thank you so much.

[00:26:14] George Koster: That's it for this episode of Voices of the Community.

[00:26:17] George Koster: You've been listening to the voices of Leah King, the Director of Education, and Elena Botkin Levy, the Managing Director of Women's Audio Mission. For more information about Women's audio mission, go to women's audio mission.org where you can find out more about the girls in the MIC program. Become a member and sign up for both adult ed classes and upcoming summer classes while you're on their website.

[00:26:40] George Koster: You can support Women's Audio Mission by buying tickets to the WAM Con Virtual Nashville Event on April 24th, and find out more about the girls in the Mic Showcase program on May 21st, as well as book their studio and hire their interns. In addition to the wonderful work of Women's Audio Mission, please listen to our interview with Adriana of the San Francisco Girls Chorus and how they teach young women to become wonderful musicians through their extensive music education program and episode 30 and our interview with Julie of the Community Music Center and how they train, cultivate, and celebrate music with children and young adults.

[00:27:16] George Koster: In episode 44. With the recent announcement that indoor performing art spaces will be reopening in April, please tune in to Nick's week's show with researchers David McGraw and Meg Friedman to discuss their survey at performing arts workers to find out how our performing arts workforce is dealing with the pandemic.

[00:27:36] George Koster: We hope that you enjoyed the insights, points of view and personal stories from the voices of Change makers and their nonprofits and small businesses featured in the series. To find out more and get engaged with the nonprofits, small businesses, and staff members featured in the series, please go to my website, george koster.com and click on Voices of the Community to find links to the extended versions of these interviews and to listen to the entire series.

[00:28:03] George Koster: After listening to these stories, we hope that you will consider making a donation and volunteering to provide a hand up to your fellow community members. I want to thank my associate producer Eric Estrada and Casey Nance at Citron Studios, along with the wonderful crew at the San Francisco Public Press and KSFP.

[00:28:21] George Koster: Voices of the Community is a member of Intersection for the Arts, which allows us to offer you a tax deduction. For your contributions, please go to george koster.com and click on the donate link to make a donation to help us provide future shows just like this one. While you're on our website, you can enjoy our archived Pass shows, which feature community voices working on solutions to critical issues facing Northern California communities.

[00:28:47] George Koster: And you can sign up for our newsletter to find out more about future shows as well as shows and events from the organizations that are included in our episodes. Take us along on your next COVID walk by subscribing to voices of the community. On Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Google Podcast or wherever you get your podcast.

[00:29:07] George Koster: You can follow us on Twitter at George Koster and we'd love to hear from you with feedback and show ideas. So send us an email toGeorge@georgekoster.com. I'm George Koster in San Francisco, and thank you for listening.

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