Brianna Benevides

Heart & Hand Center is a non-profit organization providing year-round programming and one-on-one support for students beginning in second grade up to two years post-high school completion, in and around Northeast Denver. Our vision is to close the opportunity gap by creating a nurturing community where all young people may realize their potential. Our programming is guided by our holistic whole child approach, focusing on: Academic Enrichment, Creative Expression, Family Engagement & Support, Health & Wellness, and Social Emotional Skills; understanding that longevity support means supporting a young person in all aspects of their lives.

Brianna continuously finds ways to create more opportunities for young people in Denver to explore and engage in various forms of the arts. As a Program Leader Brianna found opportunities to take our elementary school aged students on field trips to see performances and musicals such as The Nutcracker and Rent. For many of our students, this was their first exposure to performing arts and they left with feelings of awe and excitement. In addition, Brianna also created opportunities for students to showcase their performance skills by coordinating and facilitating multiple talent shows over a number of years. This was a highlight of our summer camps where students sang, danced, and presented their visual arts masterpieces in front of all of their community.

As a Program Manager for our Career & College Readiness Program, Brianna has supported our older students to engage with various art forms. Brianna has done everything from attending students’ performances and art shows, to connecting students with community partners that promote learning and work within the arts (Youth on Record, Creative Strategies for Change, etc.), helping students find scholarship opportunities for creative arts majors, supporting a student advocating for being able to try out for a role in a play that was only casting students who identify as female, to doing advocacy work herself where she helped with the creation of a music studio in a high school library. Brianna continuously finds ways to support young people in exploring their interests and passions within the arts

Since becoming a Program Manager, Brianna's leadership has led to a 150% increase in student enrollment in our CCR Program, the creation of our Junior Program Leader internship program, and the establishment of our Annual Future Fair, which welcomed 50+ booth holders this year to talk to over 200 high school and post-secondary aged students about various learning and work opportunities. Brianna meets students where they're at and centers their voices in the growth and expansion of Heart & Hand. Brianna shows up in ways that align with our organizational values of Family, Community, Connection, Opportunity, and Respect, helping young people realize their own potential and foster the next generation of artists in Denver.

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*Each organization nominated their honoree with an essay. Those essays are posted here, as submitted, to maintain the organization's unique voice and authenticity.

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