Mirror Image Arts

What Mirror Image Arts does

Mirror Image Arts is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit youth advocacy organization founded in 2009 and headquartered in Arvada, Colorado, that operates exclusively in the Greater Denver Metropolitan Area. The organization serves youth ages 7-21 through 'Restorative Theatre™', a proprietary, trademarked methodology that combines theatre arts, restorative practices, positive youth development, and trauma-informed approaches to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline. Programs are delivered via year-long residencies in which two MIA facilitators partner with classroom teachers weekly, prioritizing Title I schools and institutions serving high free/reduced-lunch populations.

The portfolio consists of three interconnected programs: 'Your Voice' for youth development in schools and out-of-school settings; 'Brighter Future' for system-impacted youth in juvenile detention centers, diversion programs, and Division of Youth Services facilities; and 'It Starts With Us' for professional development and certification of adult practitioners. A physical Center for Restorative Theatre opened in March 2025, providing an 80-capacity performance hall, conference rooms, and community space. Documented program outcomes include 94.3% of students reporting facilitators care about them and 93.5% reporting they learned something new about themselves.

Revenue is generated through diversified nonprofit streams rather than transactional pricing: foundation grants (Unlikely Collaborators, SCFD, Colorado Health Foundation, Denver Foundation, Caring4Denver, among others), individual donations (including recurring monthly giving), the annual 'I Got Your Back' fundraising gala, earned-income from Center space rentals, and affiliate partnerships (vehicle donations via Driven 2 Donate, Coffee for a Cause). Programs are offered free or on a sliding scale to qualifying schools. Customer concentration is tilted toward a handful of school districts (Cherry Creek, Denver Public Schools, Westminster) and the Colorado Division of Youth Services, with additional reach through juvenile justice facilities and community partners such as Scholars Unlimited and Boys and Girls Club.

Name

Mirror Image Arts

Legal name

Mirror Image Arts

Website

https://mirrorimagearts.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Mirror Image Arts is a Denver-metro 501(c)(3) nonprofit that runs Restorative Theatre™ residencies in schools and juvenile justice facilities to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline for youth ages 7-21.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Advocacy and Social-Emotional Education Services

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Fine Arts Schools (61161), Theater Companies and Dinner Theaters (711110)

akta.pro primary industry

Children’s & Youth Educational Entertainment (Edutainment) (EDAGALAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Children’s & Youth Theatre (MPAGABAE), Performing Arts Centers & Presenters (Programming/Booking) (MPAGABAM), Youth-to-Adult Transition & Life Skills (Independent Living, Soft Skills) (EDAAAFAN)

Keywords

• Youth services
• Restorative theatre
• Social-emotional learning
• Juvenile justice diversion
• Youth development programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Arvada

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Grants and Foundation Funding: Mirror Image Arts receives grant funding from foundations and organizations such as Unlikely Collaborators to support program expansion and operational costs.
2. Individual Donations: Monthly investments, one-time gifts, and planned giving through will be accepted. The organization promotes monthly donor programs for budget security.
3. Fundraising Events: Annual flagship event 'I Got Your Back' with silent auctions and sponsorships, plus various community fundraising events throughout the year.
4. Space Rental: The Center for Restorative Theatre building is rented to external groups for meetings, events, concerts, and classes. Rental fees are waived with donations to the mission encouraged.
5. Vehicle Donations: Partnered with Driven 2 Donate where 80% of vehicle donation value benefits Mirror Image Arts.
6. Coffee Sales: 33% of Coffee for a Cause Premium Roast purchases donated to Mirror Image Arts through group fundraising partnerships.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

Mirror Image Arts delivers Restorative Theatre™ programming—a proprietary methodology combining theatre arts, restorative practices, positive youth development, and trauma-informed approaches—to youth ages 7–21 in schools, community organizations, and juvenile detention centers across the Greater Denver Metropolitan Area. The portfolio includes three programs: Your Voice (school and out-of-school youth development), Brighter Future (services for system-impacted youth in detention and re-entry), and It Starts With Us (professional development and Restorative Theatre Certificate training for youth-serving adults). The organization also operates the Center for Restorative Theatre facility as a community space and program venue.

Product overview

Mirror Image Arts is a nonprofit youth advocacy organization offering Restorative Theatre™ programming as a unified approach to disrupting the pipeline to prison. Their portfolio consists of three interconnected programs: Your Voice (youth development in schools and community settings), Brighter Future (system-impacted youth in detention and reentry), and It Starts With Us (professional development for adults). The organization also operates a Center For Restorative Theatre that serves as both a programming venue and community space, supplemented by a donation closet/pantry for youth support and student-curated zines as creative outputs.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Your Voice Your Voice is Mirror Image Arts' Restorative Theatre™ youth development program delivered in public schools, alternative schools, and out-of-school time settings (Rec Centers, Libraries, Boys & Girls Clubs). It serves kindergarten through 12th grade with age-appropriate tracks including Early Literacy, My Curious Courage, You Me WE, Finding Your Voice, Shaping Your Voice, and Your Voice Matters, helping youth process trauma, habits, and choices through theatre while strengthening self-agency, problem-solving, and decision-making.
• Brighter Future Brighter Future is Mirror Image Arts' Restorative Theatre™ program serving system-impacted youth ages 7–21 in Facility Schools, Detention Centers, Diversion programs, Colorado Division of Youth Services, and Re-entry settings. It uses theatre-based approaches to empower youth to take control of their story, process trauma and choices, and avoid harms of the criminal legal system.
• It Starts With Us It Starts With Us is the professional development program for adults serving youth, providing consultation, theatre-based curriculum, and the Restorative Theatre Certificate. Training covers Nervous System Regulation, Positive Youth Development, Trauma-Informed Care, Healing-Centered Engagement, Culturally Responsive Teaching, and Restorative Justice for communities, organizations, and businesses.
• Center for Restorative Theatre The Center for Restorative Theatre is Mirror Image Arts' physical facility opened in March 2025, providing a Restorative Theatre & Meeting Hall with capacity 80, conference rooms, small meeting rooms, and offices. The facility serves as both a programming venue for MIA's services and a rentable community space for external groups' meetings, events, concerts, and classes, with priority given to youth organizations and MIA programs.
• MIA Closet & Pantry The MIA Closet & Pantry is a Mirror Image Arts support service providing donated essential items—including clothing, shoes, and other necessities—to system-impacted youth participating in the Brighter Future program.

Quantifiable outcome

• 94.3% of students said The facilitator cares about me
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers11 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Cherry Creek SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership with school district for Restorative Theatre programming in schools.
• Denver Public SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for school-based Restorative Theatre programming including Fairview Elementary and other district schools.
• Westminster Public SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMET program partnership for Restorative Theatre implementation.
• Colorado Division of Youth ServicescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFacility schools and detention center programming serving system-impacted youth.
• New America SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIt Starts With Us program partnership with youth-created zine projects.
• Scholars UnlimitedsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerOut-of-school time programming partnership.
• Wellpower / Skyline AcademysupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for mental health and youth services programming.
• Brite CollaborativesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerYouth development programming partnership.
• Denver Parks & RecreationsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity partnership for social-emotional learning initiatives.
• Hope MustangssupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerYouth services programming partnership.
• Think 360 ArtssupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerArts education advocacy partner and Denver Afterschool Alliance member.
• ArtistYearcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMirror Image Arts is a proud ArtistYear partner site in Denver, CO, hosting Resident Teaching Artists.
• Driven 2 Donate / Step DenversupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerVehicle donation partnership where 80% benefits Mirror Image Arts and 20% supports Step Denver recovery program.
• American Friends Service Committee (AFSC)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerAdvocacy partner working toward justice and peace through Quaker-based approaches.
• Fully Liberated YouthsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerAdvocacy partner focused on restoring dignity and fostering secure attachments with incarcerated and formerly incarcerated young people.
• National Center for Youth LawsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerAdvocacy partner working to transform government agencies and public systems to center youth with equity, dignity, and care.
• Debt Free JusticecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational campaign partner dedicated to ending harmful fees and fines imposed on youth in the justice system. MIA inspired Colorado House Bill 1373.
• Root Causes NetworksupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerAdvocacy partner providing infrastructure to build capacity of human service nonprofits for community-centered policy.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Roca: Massachusetts-based nonprofit focused on system-impacted young adults and youth violence intervention. Operates at significantly larger scale than MIA but shares the trauma-informed, high-touch engagement model with system-involved youth.
• Friends of the Children: National nonprofit providing long-term, paid professional mentoring to youth facing systemic barriers. Larger and more established than MIA but addresses the same upstream school-to-prison pipeline via sustained youth-adult relationships.
• Roundabout Theatre Company (Education): Major New York-based professional theatre with a large in-school and youth-development programming arm. Provides a broader-incumbent comparison point for theatre organizations layering educational/social-emotional programming on top of core theatre work.

Direct peers

• ArtistYear: National arts residency program that places Resident Teaching Artists in underserved communities. Mirror Image Arts is a designated ArtistYear partner site in Denver, so ArtistYear operates the very residency pipeline that supplies MIA's facilitators and shares the same arts-based youth development thesis.
• Metro Theater Company: St. Louis-based professional theatre for young audiences producing original social-issue work and touring to schools. Operates an analogous model of original-issue theatre deployed into school settings.
• Creative Arts Team (NYU): NYU-based arts-in-education program using theatre and drama techniques with court-involved youth and in alternative-to-detention settings. Closely aligned methodology (drama-based restorative practice with system-impacted youth).
• Imagination Stage: Bethesda, MD-based professional theatre for young audiences combining performance with social-emotional learning programs for schools and system-involved youth. Closely mirrors MIA's dual focus on theatrical craft and youth-development outcomes.
• Think 360 Arts: Denver-based arts education advocacy organization and named MIA partner via the Denver Afterschool Alliance. Operates an overlapping mission of bringing arts learning to youth and educators across Colorado, making it the closest geographic and mission peer.
• Childsplay: Tempe, AZ professional theatre company dedicated exclusively to young audiences with extensive in-school residency and social-issues programming. Shares MIA's combination of theatre-as-methodology and K-12 reach.
• National Theatre for Children: Minneapolis-based touring theatre company producing educational plays delivered directly to K-12 schools nationwide. Comparable model of theatre-as-educational-intervention with similar revenue/grant structure.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mirrorimagearts
• Facebookfacebook.com/mirrorimageartsdenver
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mirror-image-arts

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Mirror Image Arts