Strategic Goal #1: Build recognition of Casita Maria as a historical organization, leveraging its assets and resources to prepare for growth and innovation in advance of it centennial . Strategic Goal #2: Support the recruitment, development and engagement of a growing and diverse board who are passionate about Casita Maria's mission, and committed to furthering our goals. Strategic Goal #3: Establish Casita Maria as a leader in arts education, advancing and championing a proven model that builds educational and life skills, and increases career and college attainment for all youth. Strategic Goal #4: Advance Casita Maria's organizational infrastructure, support base and professional workforce to ensure the stability and capacity necessary to accomplish our goals. Strategic Goal #5: Enrich, deepen and expand culturally relevant programming and practices that promote mastery and build leadership among young people, families and the community. Strategic Goal #6: Invest in the development of and access to new emerging technologies, special initiatives, and opportunities for youth and families through strong partnerships that support partnerships that support 21st Century innovation and collaboration.

Core Strategy #1: We invest in arts and education programming and other services for young people (K-12) . We believe that the overall community is improved by young people who are happy whole and creative. Core Strategy #2: We build relationships with parents, caregivers, and others in the community ecosystem in order to better understand and meet the needs of the young people we serve and hope to serve. Core Strategy #3: We are committed to supporting and building on the legacy of arts and culture that have always been a source of resilience, pride, and unity in our community. Core Strategy #4: Our programming prepares young people for college and career readiness, and encourages positive youth development and engagement. Core Strategy #5: We use a Creative Youth Development approach as the foundation for all our work. Core Strategy #6: We promote organizational values and practices that foster work-life balance and professional in support of a workforce that positively and enthusiastically delivers on Casita Maria's mission.

In 2009, Casita Maria inaugurated a state of the art facility encompassing performance spaces, exhibition gallery, dance and music studios, and more on its Simpson Street campus. This 90,000 square foot, six-story educational and cultural facility in collaboration with the Department of Education has enabled Casita Maria to expand its scope and capacities as a beacon of excellence. Casita Maria's Program Director oversees all staffing providing educational programs. Our Program Director is a licensed educator with extensive experience managing after-school programs. Her staff includes Program Coordinators who supervise after-school program staff including Group Leaders and Teaching Artists; recruit students; and coordinate other day-to-day aspects of the after-school program. As a community-based organization, Casita Maria partners with organizations across the neighborhood and borough. We collaborate with cultural organizations to bring exhibitions and performances to the community. Additionally, our education programs partner with a number of organizations that provide services to our students, such as health-related services, as needed.

Casita Maria has a framework, laid out in our strategic plan, to internally measure our impact. We collect this data at 3 levels: participant; program and organization. Our outcomes for youth include: -increasing student engagement in learning -increasing student exposure to and participation in the arts and high quality education opportunities -building students 21st Century skills, specifically diligence, creativity, leadership and self-awareness - successfully transitioning youth from grade to grade i K-12 and int college and career paths.

In 2017, we. . . - Served 1000+ program participants - Provided 2205 hours of art education - Supplied 1656 hours of music education - Provided 1206 hours of theater and dance - Dedicated 2140 hours of literacy and academics to participants - Arranged 12 Bronx Latin Jazz performances - Administered 280 hours of Summer Camp for Grades K-5 - Administered 280 hours of Summer Camp for Grades 6-8 - Catered to 20,739 community participants in our Creative Arts Programming