We are honored to present this advanced training for graduates of Bartol’s Trauma-Informed Practice Certificate training who serve Philadelphia communities. This workshop is designed and facilitated by Mohsin Mohi-Ud-Din of MeWeInternational, in collaboration with Bartol. 

If accepted, you must attend all three sessions on Friday, February 6th from 6 to 8pm EST, Saturday, February 7th from 10am to 4pm, and Sunday, February 8th from 10am to 4pm (all times are in EST). 

Our stories, the ones we claim and the ones placed on us, influence our beliefs about ourselves, including our worth, potential, and relationship to our community and society as a whole. Conversely, systems of oppression regularly craft and leverage stories about individuals and communities to justify punishment, deny aid, or seed disquiet and distrust among populations. Activating MeWeInternational’s trauma-informed Re-Storying framework, as a community of artists, educators, and liberators we will explore the art of storytelling as a tool for reclamation, peacebuilding, and youth development and protection among communities.

During this training, participants will be invited to explore the perspective, language and action necessary to:

1. Decolonize and make neurobiological and psychosocial concepts accessible for participants of any age or walk of life, to empower communities to make the science work for them. 
2. Activate storytelling as a multidimensional tool which can be utilized in any art form or community gathering to prime participants to make connections between themselves, each other, the art they make, and so on.
3. Build the sustaining elements of community into their workshops, empowering participants to replicate what they learned with their neighbors. 

Space in this training is limited. Acceptances will be sent on January 15th. Participating artists will receive a $100 travel stipend after the training is complete.

Participants who are not accepted in this round will have the option to have their application automatically reconsidered for the Spring Cohort, which will be held on April 17th, 18th, and 19th.

DEADLINE TO APPLY:  APRIL 27th AT 5 PM 

This training is only for arts education administrators in the Greater Philadelphia Area (e.g. Education Directors, Program Directors, etc. or Executive Directors who do everything!) who support teaching artists in their work. If you are a Philadelphia Teaching Artist, visit our website for information on our upcoming TIPTA Spring Cohort. If you are outside of Philadelphia, visit our website for information on our asynchronous Spring TIP trainings for TAs and Administrators.  

Any artist working in community settings will encounter young people who have been affected by trauma. While teaching artists rarely have detailed access to a participant’s personal history, there are tools they can use to identify a young person who is potentially trauma-impacted and strategies that they can employ to accommodate and engage that young person. Arts Education Administrators can play a crucial role in supporting their teaching artists by providing trauma-informed program values and program supports, introducing trauma-informed workshop practices, facilitating trauma-informed partnerships with community partners, and providing trauma-informed support in our organizational and managerial practices.

 Structure of the Training: Over the course of five, four-hour sessions, a cohort of up to 12 Arts Education Administrators will deeply engage in rigorous presentations by leaders in trauma-informed practice and its application in a range of artistic disciplines. Participants will be asked to complete outside reading and reflection questions and, when possible, test the strategies they are learning in real time in their organizations.    

Arts Education Administrators must commit to attend all five training sessions presented virtually on Thursdays from 1:00 - 4:30pm EST on July 16, 23, 30 and August 6 and 13.

This course is offered at no cost to participants thanks to generous support from the William Penn Foundation.

What you will learn: Upon completion of the training, Arts Education Administrators will recognize:

• The neurological, psychological, and physiological nature of trauma;
• How stress, fear, and trauma affect the brain, behavior, and ability to forge relationships;
• How trauma can affect self-image, and lead to shame and fear;
• Behavior in students, partners, or staff that indicates potential trauma, fear, shame or stress;
• What a potentially trauma-impacted young person does (and doesn’t) need to successfully participate and learn in a workshop setting;
• How arts can help with skill-building, processing, and healing; 
• And the signs of secondary or vicarious trauma in themselves their staff, or in community partners.

Upon completion of the training, Arts Education Administrators can: 

• Provide clear structure, consistency, and ritual in their programs and organizational structures;
• Build a community culture of welcoming and support with their participants and with their staff;
• Explore new ways to offer choice and agency during learning, art-making, and sharing, as well as ways to offer choice and agency at the workplace;
• Understand how culture and identity shape a person’s beliefs and needs, and how that influences their own teaching and administrative practice, the practices of their staff, and their participants;
• Understand how systemic oppression and white patriarchal culture are embedded in communities and systems, and 1) how reframing skills and expectations in workshops and programs can be a step toward decolonizing education, and 2) how examining their organization's structure and practices is an important step  toward decolonization of the workplace; 
• When a heightened moment of stress, fear, or trauma response arises, provide participants and staff with options that can help them release and regulate;
• Build trauma-informed models for participant sharing and critique, centering a culture of affirmation;
• Provide opportunities for processing and reflection about art-making and skill building, to aid participants in forging meaning and connection from their experiences;
• Adapt curricula into a trauma-informed model;
• And develop a self-care and community care plan to help prevent educator burnout and secondary trauma.  

Who is Eligible? This training is ideal for arts administrators who…

• Are from the Greater Philadelphia area.
• Have served at least one year as an Arts Administrator.
• Are currently working as an Arts Administrator with responsibility for program design, managing staff, and/or collaborating with community partners.
• Work for an organization executing programs for young people as a major portion of the organization’s services.
• Have a desire to be part of an ongoing learning community of Arts Administrators and teaching artists.

 Your Commitment to the Training 

• Attend all five, 3.5 hour training sessions Thursdays from 1:00 - 4:30pm EST on July 16, 23, 30 and August 6 and 13 virtually on Zoom.
• Prepare pre-work and be ready to contribute to each session to make workshop time efficient
• Engage in each session with focus, curiosity and an open mind 

 Bartol Foundation Commitment to You 

• Convene practitioners in the field as presenters and participants who will bring knowledge and commitment to the training 
• Create an organized, supportive environment for learning including space, food breaks, materials and follow-up as needed. 
• Listen fully to suggestions to improve the training both in real time and for future cohorts. 
• Support the ongoing continuation of a learning community at the conclusion of the training, if desired by the participants. 

Timeline 

• Application Opens: January 5th, 2026
• Extended! Application Closes: April 27th at 5 PM
• Notification of Acceptance: by Monday May 4th, 2026

 Co-Facilitator: Mindy A. Early is a genderfluid writer, theatre artist, educator, and administrator who believes we all deserve a supportive environment to explore our individual and collective voice and humanity. As a human with an invisible disability, they advocate for body autonomy in learning spaces and choice and agency within learning.

Formerly they were the Director of Education at Philadelphia Young Playwrights, a theatre education organization which uses playwriting as a vehicle to increase students’ comfort with writing, literacy, and creative expression, and Program Manager for First Person Arts Trigger VIP Program, which helps teens learn how to use storytelling as a tool for processing, expression, and advocacy. Currently, they are the Training Program Consultant and creator of Bartol’s 20-hour trauma-informed training for teaching artists and arts administrators, which has been offered by the foundation since 2018. They are also a member of Philadelphia Young Playwrights’ Board of Directors.

Within theatre education, Mae’s workshops focus on playwriting, directing, and performance. Within writing, he facilitates workshops about the fundamentals of storytelling, revision, poetry, discovering the creative voice, and engaging playfulness with writing. In addition to teaching over 1500 workshops at a multitude of schools in the Greater Philadelphia Area, Mae regularly facilitates professional development across sectors and ages in the areas of trauma-informed and healing-centered teaching, teaching artistry, arts education pedagogy, and workforce development. He has facilitated workshops on trauma-informed practice and the arts for numerous organizations including Intimacy Directors and Coordinators (IDC), NYC Arts and Education Roundtable, the Cincinnati Arts Association, Hawai’i State Foundation on Culture and the Arts, ArtistYear, Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, Philadelphia Teaching Artist Institute, Philadelphia Musical Alliance for Youth, ArtWell, Rock to the Future, Spiral Q, and Fleisher Art Memorial, to name a few. He is certified by Lakeside Global Institute as a Trauma-Competent Professional, where he has completed 150 hours of trauma-informed training to date, including classes such as Processing Pain and Facilitating Healing and Enhancing Capacity for Applying Trauma-Informed Principles. Mae has presented on the intersection of arts and trauma-informed work at conferences such as the Theatre for Young Audiences, American Alliance for Theatre Education National Conference, National Capital Puppetry Guild Summer Conference, Third Annual Philadelphia Trauma Training Conference hosted by Thomas Jefferson University, the Fourth Annual International Teaching Artist Conference, and the Kennedy Center VSA Intersections Conference.

Co-Facilitator: Anjoli Santiago (she/her)  is a lifelong artist and an alchemist of words who honors her inner scientist by approaching everything with curiosity. Her creative mission is to remind all: that the invitation to creativity is inherently inclusive, and creativity is our gift to make manifest. She began her journey as an actress, poet, and teaching artist, performing in city theaters and honing the skills she gained from earning her B.A. in Theatre at Temple University. She recognized the importance of communal access to the arts. Anjoli has since performed with Power Street Theatre, Theatre in the X, Drexel University, Theatre Exile, InterAct Theatre, and numerous other venues.

Curious about how to stretch her brain, she became a NY Teaching Fellow, graduating with honors from CUNY City College with an M.S.Ed. She taught in the South Bronx as a Special Education and Creative Arts teacher for grades 5-12. Continued curiosity led her to develop after-school and summer programs for grades 6-8 in collaboration with Liberty Leads from Bank Street College in Harlem. Anjoli is an expert in meeting the unique needs of youth in these culturally rich and often underserved areas.

The Philadelphia skyline always called to Anjoli, as did the scent of her mother’s flower garden. In 2016, she connected teachers across the nation with Classroom Champions, a uniquely social and emotional learning curriculum that pairs world-class athletes as mentors with K-8 classrooms. She grew for seven years, honing many skills.

Anjoli is also a proud facilitator with the Stockton Rush Bartol Foundation in their Trauma-Informed Practice Training for Arts Administrators. The Bartol Foundation has become a home for Anjoli to share her learnings about social and emotional learning with creatives and administrators. She delights in exploring how these practices elevate our artistry, enhance our interpersonal relationships with people of all generations, and foster our connections with ourselves.

Fascinated with playful expansion, Anjoli stretched to become a two-time StorySlam Champion with First Person Arts, was featured in a WHYY podcast (Philadelphia Revealed), and welcomed storytelling commissions from NAMIPhilly, for the Philadelphia Culture Fund rebranding celebration, and the collaboration with Philadelphia Chamber Music Society and ensemble132 opening at Teatro Esperanza. Anjoli is also in post-production of her first written and featured film, Penumbras, where light and darkness meet. You can find her on the open mic circuit, where she hosts and performs at Souletri events and others around the city.

In her spare time, Anjoli serves on the Alumni Board as Co-Chair of the Alumni Committee for Philadelphia Young Playwrights and is a member of the Philly Latine Theatre Alliance, promoting inclusivity in the arts industry. When she is not gallivanting about the city, she can be found tending her cat pack, spinning poetic logic, and gardening for humans and deer/groundhogs alike! 

APPLICATION CLOSES MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2026 AT 11:59PM

The Bartol Teaching Artist Award will provide 10 unrestricted grants of $2,500 to Philadelphia-based artists providing consistent, accessible arts education benefiting communities they are in deep relationship with. This award provides direct financial investment in freelance or independent teaching artists as they design and implement meaningful programs benefiting youth and adults in Philadelphia, and sustain themselves as vital culture bearers and changemakers in their communities.

With lead funding from Marrazzo Family Foundation, this award is designed to provide teaching artists the opportunity to develop their skills, strengthen their connections with their community, and focus on developing visionary new approaches to arts education in Philadelphia.

Who is eligible to apply? Philadelphia-based teaching artists who;

• Are providing consistent, accessible arts education of any discipline that propels communities in Philadelphia forward
• Have a sustained commitment to providing community-engaged arts education, built on a deeply mutual relationship
• Have lived and worked in Philadelphia for at least 2 years
• Work in some capacity as an independent contractor, freelancer, or are self-employed

*Past recipients of Marrazzo/Bartol Teaching Artist Micro-Grants are eligible to apply.

Note that the application will close at exactly 11:59pm on February 16 even if you are in the middle of completing your application so don't wait until the last minute!  You can save a draft of your application and return to it to complete it.  We suggest uploading your attachments first since sometimes you may have glitches that delay submitting your application. You can preview the application questions here before you start.

You will receive an acknowledgement via email when you have successfully submitted your application.  Save this to show you have submitted by the deadline.  If you do not receive a confirmation email, your submission wasn't received.