Mirror Image

“The 990 is provided to the board of directors in draft form and voted on for approval prior to filing with the irs.”

“The conflict of interest policy is provided annually to all board and staff members. Any potential conflicts of interest will be brought to the board of directors for discussion and transparency.”

“The compensation for the executive director is approved annually by the board of directors by way of a market salary comparison analysis. Each year the salary adjustment is proposed and voted on by the board of directors during the fiscal year end budgeting process.”

“Governing and financial documents are available upon request.”

“Mirror image arts is a youth advocacy organization disrupting the pipeline to prison through restorative theatre. Our work is the collective liberation of all. We bring restorative theatre to youth and youth serving adults in schools, community organizations, and detention centers. We create spaces of healing and belonging while deepening social emotional wellbeing.”

“In the last year mirror image arts completed 71 programs including 42 for your voice (intervention programming), 22 for restorative theatre (theatre in the juvenile legal system), and 7 for it starts with us (prevention programming), as well as 2 impactful events. We directly served 958 youth across the denver-metro area, and we totaled 723 hours of direct service. Through our professional learning for adults who work with youth, we indirectly impacted 9,858 young people. This year was a year of implementation of shared leadership and renewed vision to deepen the impact of our work. Mirror image arts board of directors modeled shared leadership by assigning its first board co-chairs to andy palmer and joan dieter mazza. The board also promoted maya osterman van grack and theresa mazza to become the organization's first co-executive directors. Mirror image arts' new co-executive directors redesigned the organization's strategic plan to ensure high impact programs, long term effectiveness and sustainability. They also implemented three areas of focus for the organization's program offerings: prevention, intervention, and reintegration. Additionally, in fy2024 mirror image arts increased revenue by 150,578, which is a 19.66% increase from the previous year. The organization reached over 900,000 of revenue for the first time. Through their testimonies our youth participants have emphasized the power and impact of our work: i thought i was the only one going through something but being with mia makes me feel im not alone. I feel like my confidence has grown. When i first came in i didnt want to talk but now i feel like its okay to share my voice. I feel like mia listens to me and loves me for me no matter what. I respect all of you. I love this program because to describe it, i feel like i belong. I love talking to you and i trust mia more than i trust most people. Mirror image arts is proud to assist schools and detention centers in their move from punitive practices to restorative practices. Our curriculum uses theatre as a vehicle to understand social interactions and creates social context for youth to make meaning in a freedom-to-fail environment that is teaching reasoning and social context through empathy. Through our work, we give youth access to the arts while opening spaces for them to experience belonging, to express themselves through play, imagination, and dialogue. To feel valued, seen, and heard. To be experts in their own lives and have the opportunity to make mistakes and come back stronger. To practice their resilience and their potential. Mirror image arts relies on the idea that humans are in a constant state of becoming and is committed to humanizing others and self for our collective liberation. We prioritize the empowerment and agency of the youth we work with, particularly incarcerated youth who often have limited control over their lives. We ensure that our programs involve a co-creative process where youth have ownership of the space and their voices and ideas are valued. Unlike traditional approaches where youth are silenced or told what to believe, we create opportunities for young people to develop their own opinions through dialogue and actively participate in envisioning and enacting positive changes in their lives, communities, and the world. Our team of theatre artists serves as facilitators and collaborators, allowing youth the rare opportunity to shape the content of their own stories and challenge the narratives imposed upon them by society and family.”