Creative Generation
Creative Generation is a values-forward global collective and Public Benefit Corporation that accelerates young creatives and arts educators through capacity building, original research, annual campaigns, and the co-hosted Young & Emerging Leaders Forum, serving individuals and institutions across the arts, cultural education, and social change sectors worldwide.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersPortland, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B and B2C
- OfferingServices
What Creative Generation does
Creative Generation is a values-forward global collective and Public Benefit Corporation registered in Washington, D.C. that accelerates young creatives and the adults who cultivate their creativity to take local actions toward global change across the arts, cultural education, and social change sectors. Its portfolio comprises capacity-building services, original research and knowledge production, annual thematic campaigns with quarterly sub-themes, two podcast series (Creativity Applied and Why Change?), and the Young & Emerging Leaders Forum (YELF) co-hosted with the International Teaching Artist Collaborative. Delivery is executed through a distributed collective of approximately nine part-time, multi-hyphenate practitioners supported by an alumni network of roughly 27 former members, with no centralized full-time staff and no software product.
The organization does not operate as a technology company; its underlying capabilities are co-creative methodology, ethnographic and heuristic research, content production, and a distinctive values framework (anti-racist, queer, indigenous, feminist, restorative justice) codified in a published Acknowledgement, Responsibility, and Reparations Action Plan. Customer-facing distribution runs through direct engagement with institutional partners (e.g., Boys & Girls Clubs of America at its 2022 National Conference, the Appell Center for Performing Arts, Black Teaching Artist Lab), self-serve digital content (website, podcasts, newsletter), and jointly hosted convenings such as YELF. Geographic reach spans at least nine countries across North America, Oceania, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Latin America.
Revenue is generated through three streams: donations (notably a GoFundMe Jumpstart initiative), fee-for-service capacity-building and consulting engagements with nonprofit and arts-education partners, and research collaborations. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, and no external institutional investment or venture/PE backing is mentioned. In 2024 the organization entered a new chapter, forming The Foundation for the Creative Generation, The Creativity Codex, and the parent Ingenium Consortium that powers Creative Generation and regularly collaborates with its related entities.
Creative Generation firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Creative Generation
- Legal name
- Creative Generation
- Website
- https://creative-generation.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Creative Generation is a values-forward global collective and Public Benefit Corporation that accelerates young creatives and arts educators through capacity building, original research, annual campaigns, and the co-hosted Young & Emerging Leaders Forum, serving individuals and institutions across the arts, cultural education, and social change sectors worldwide.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Creative Generation industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Arts Education and Capacity Building
- NAICS
- Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation (71), Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Arts, Sports & Recreation-Based Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAJ)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Community Arts, Culture & Creative Placemaking Enterprises (BPAGALAO), Crafts & Maker Arts (Ceramics, Textiles, Jewelry, Mixed Media) (EDAMAAAD)
Keywords
Where Creative Generation is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Portland
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices8 records
Markets served
Creative Generation business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B and B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Donations and Fundraising: Creative Generation accepts donations via GoFundMe and likely other channels to support its operations as a Public Benefit Corporation.
- Fee-for-Service Capacity Building & Consulting: The organization serves as a learning and capacity building organization which strengthens individuals, organizations, and fields of practice through collaborative projects, often with institutional partners.
- Research Collaborations: Creative Generation conducts original research, publishes extensively, and supports programs and people leading transformative creative projects worldwide, often in partnership with larger institutions.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Creative Generation product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Creative Generation is a values-forward, global nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation that operates as a learning and capacity-building collective for the arts, cultural education, and creative youth development sectors. It delivers fee-for-service capacity building, research collaborations, annual thematic campaigns, podcasts, and the Young & Emerging Leaders Forum to individuals and organizations, funded in part by donations.
Product overview
Creative Generation is a values-forward, global nonprofit collective rather than a software product company. Its offering is a portfolio of interconnected programs including The Collective (its core team model), the Campaign for a Creative Generation (annual thematic campaigns), podcasts (Creativity Applied and Why Change?), research and knowledge production, and capacity building services. In 2024, new organizational structures were formed including The Foundation for the Creative Generation, The Creativity Codex, and The Ingenium Consortium. The organization also hosts the Young & Emerging Leaders Forum (YELF) in partnership with ITAC. These programs work together to advance the organization's mission of co-creating with young creatives to pursue a more just world.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- The Foundation for the Creative Generation: A new organizational structure formed in 2024 as part of Creative Generation's new chapter.
- The Creativity Codex
- The Ingenium Consortium
Products and services
- The Collective A global collective of artists, educators, administrators, researchers, storytellers, and activists who co-create with young creatives to take local actions towards global change in pursuit of a more just world.
- Campaign for a Creative Generation Annual campaign providing a hub for stories, resources, and opportunities focused on empowering young creatives and their communities, with quarterly thematic focuses.
- Values & Commitments Framework A comprehensive values-forward framework including principles of centering creativity, pursuing justice, stewarding youth power, fostering intergenerational collaborations, and honoring diversity, accompanied by articulated commitments for capacity building and learning.
- Podcasts (Creativity Applied & Why Change?) Podcast series featuring discussions on creativity, social change, youth leadership, and arts education.
- Capacity Building Services Learning and capacity building services that strengthen and enable individuals, organizations, and global fields of practice within arts, culture, and social change.
- Research & Knowledge Production Original research, publications, and knowledge production exploring the intersection of arts, culture, education, and social change, including field-wide paradigm shifts in pedagogies and organizational practices.
- Young & Emerging Leaders Forum (YELF) Jointly hosted by Creative Generation and the International Teaching Artist Collaborative (ITAC), bringing together young practitioners for collaborative learning based on critical reflection.
- The Foundation for the Creative Generation A new organizational structure formed in 2024 as part of Creative Generation's new chapter.
- The Creativity Codex A new organizational structure formed in 2024 to support Creative Generation's mission and goals.
Quantifiable outcome
- Produced global messaging campaigns, conducted original research, published extensively, and supported programs and people leading transformative creative projects worldwide over five years.
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Creative Generation
Customer profileNamed customers2 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Creative Generation technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Creative Generation partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Boys & Girls Clubs of AmericacoreIn 2022, Creative Generation collaborated with Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) at their National Conference in Chicago, conducting qualitative interviews and holding dialogue sessions on the impact of BGCA Arts programs across the country. This partnership produced a series of podcast episodes and research findings on youth experiences in arts programming.
- Appell Center for Performing ArtscoreIn Summer/Fall 2022, Creative Generation collaborated with the Appell Center for Performing Arts (ACPA) to produce an actionable plan elevating community knowledge and inform tools to create a community hub for arts and cultural education in York County, PA. The collaboration involved community engagement throughout the county.
- Ingenium ConsortiumcoreCreative Generation is powered by the Ingenium Consortium and regularly collaborates with its related entities. The Ingenium Consortium is an organizational structure formed in 2024 as part of Creative Generation's new chapter, alongside The Foundation for the Creative Generation and The Creativity Codex.
- International Teaching Artist Collaborative (ITAC)coreYELF (Young & Emerging Leaders Forum) is jointly hosted by Creative Generation and ITAC to bring together and recognize young practitioners from across the field, fostering a collaborative learning environment based in critical reflection intended to interrogate, mutually share and learn, and radically reimagine future possibilities.
- Black Teaching Artist LabminorCreative Generation collaborated with the Black Teaching Artist Lab to explore and archive existing documented knowledge related to teaching artists and Black arts-based teaching and learning, producing a research study on the attitudes and perceptions of Black-identifying teaching artists in the United States.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Creative Generation competitors and assessment
Company assessmentEmerging players
- EdVestors: Boston-based nonprofit that invests in and supports arts education and other enrichment in schools. Comparable in operating at the intersection of arts, education research, and capacity building for institutions.
Direct peers
- Americans for the Arts: National service organization for the arts that conducts research, advocacy, and field-building. Overlaps with Creative Generation in field-wide research and paradigm-shift advocacy for arts education.
- National Art Education Association (NAEA): The leading professional association for art educators. Comparable in advocating for arts education, producing publications, and convening practitioners across the same field Creative Generation serves.
- National Guild for Community Arts Education: National membership organization for community-based arts education organizations. Peer in providing capacity building, research, and convening services to the same arts-education field.
- International Teaching Artist Collaborative (ITAC): Co-host of Creative Generation's YELF program and an active strategic partner. ITAC operates as a global learning community for teaching artists in the same arts-education-and-capacity-building niche as Creative Generation.
- Young Audiences Arts for Learning: A national nonprofit network delivering arts-in-education programs to K-12 youth. Direct peer in youth arts education, capacity building, and institutional partnership models.
- Teaching Artists Guild: Membership organization for teaching artists; former Creative Generation affiliate Heleya de Barros served as Co-Executive Director. Operates in the same teaching-artist capacity-building niche.
- Arts Corps: Seattle-based nonprofit providing arts education to youth, where Creative Generation affiliate Heleya de Barros serves as Co-Director of Arts Education. Direct peer in creative youth development programs.
Broad incumbents
- Afterschool Alliance: National advocacy organization for afterschool programs including arts. Comparable in serving as an advocacy and capacity-building umbrella that includes youth arts programming.
- Lincoln Center Education: Education arm of Lincoln Center providing arts education programming, research, and capacity building at much larger scale. Broad incumbent with overlapping mission in arts education and youth engagement.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Creative Generation social profiles
Digital presenceCreative Generation financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Creative Generation leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles12 records
Creative Generation funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Creative Generation M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Creative Generation
What does Creative Generation do?
Creative Generation is a values-forward, global nonprofit Public Benefit Corporation that operates as a learning and capacity-building collective for the arts, cultural education, and creative youth development sectors. It delivers fee-for-service capacity building, research collaborations, annual thematic campaigns, podcasts, and the Young & Emerging Leaders Forum to individuals and organizations, funded in part by donations.
Is Creative Generation a public or private company?
Creative Generation is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Creative Generation founded?
Creative Generation was founded in 2019. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Creative Generation based?
Creative Generation is headquartered in Portland, United States, in the North America region.
How does Creative Generation make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Donations and Fundraising is the primary driver. The others are fee-for-Service Capacity Building & Consulting and research Collaborations.
Who are Creative Generation's main competitors?
EdVestors is listed as an emerging player. Direct peers are Americans for the Arts, National Art Education Association (NAEA), National Guild for Community Arts Education, International Teaching Artist Collaborative (ITAC), Young Audiences Arts for Learning, Teaching Artists Guild and Arts Corps. Broad incumbents are Afterschool Alliance and Lincoln Center Education.
Does Creative Generation have an API?
No public API is recorded for Creative Generation.
What industry is Creative Generation in?
Creative Generation's product category is Arts Education and Capacity Building. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGADAJ, Arts, Sports & Recreation-Based Youth Development Nonprofits, with a secondary code of BPAGALAO, Community Arts, Culture & Creative Placemaking Enterprises. Its NAICS code is 71.