Partners & Funders

The Youth Documentary Academy was incubated at the Bemis School of Art and the Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center and is now housed by Pikes Peak State College  and offered in partnership with their Department of High Impact Practices. From 2017 – 2022, YDA was fortunate to be a fiscally sponsored project of  Rocky Mountain Women’s Film. YDA would like to thank our California partner, the Bay Area Video Coalition, for their guidance and support in bringing YDA to Colorado Springs. Currently, YDA is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

Major funding for YDA and OUR TIME comes from the Russell Grinnell Memorial Trust, Steve and Mary Anne Walldorf, and Betsy and Warren Dean with additional support from the Joseph Henry Edmondson Foundation, Bee Vradenburg Foundation, the CALM Foundation, the TDB Family Foundation, Watson and Susan Warriner, the Griffis Family, and Sally Sharpe in honor of John King.  

New sponsorships from H. Chase Stone Charitable Fund, Flying Horse Foundation, Colorado Creative Industries, the Strub-Heer Fund, Colorado Springs Health Foundation, Arts in Society, Diversus Health, Kaiser Permanente, and Peak View Behavioral Health support our Youth Media Matters programming in high schools throughout Colorado, addressing teen mental health and representation. 

Since 2019, we extend a big thank you to our broadcast partners, Rocky Mountain PBS and American Public Television, with whom we distribute Our Time across the PBS system. We are thrilled, too, to announce our new media partner in Colorado, KRCC and Colorado Public Radio. 

In the past two years, we have welcomed back Colorado Department of Film Television, the Moniker Foundation, and the Buck Foundation for their ongoing support of YDA, as well as Half the Sky Giving Circle in honor of Chris Beyer, the Brenden Mann Foundation, and the William Stanley Foundation.

A big shout out goes to former supporters of YDA, without whose foundational support, we could not have continued to grow: the Loo Family, Ann Bernhard, the Marie Walsh Art Foundation, and the Bloom Foundation. Lastly, we acknowledge the enormous start-up contributions of Rata Clarke, Georgia Matteson and Charlie Matteson, without whom YDA would not have been created in Colorado Springs.

To become a YDA partner or provide support for our program, please contact Director Tom Shepard.

Tax deductible contributions can be made to “Youth Documentary Academy” and will help underwrite participation of more youth in our community.  CLICK HERE TO DONATE NOW

Thanks to the continuing support of the YDA Academy Members:

Mona R. Adelgren
Margie Arnold, in memory of Marilyn Holliday
Ann and Karl Bernhard
Jordan Bridwell
CALM Foundation
Donna and Mike Guthrie
Kathleen Ricker
Sally Sharpe
Sally Shepard
Gurney & Lisa Sloan
Jeff and Priscilla Stachel
Mary Anne and Steve Walldorf