Voice and Speech Trainers Association - VASTA

What Voice and Speech Trainers Association - VASTA does

The Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA) is a non-profit professional membership association founded in 1986 in New York City that serves voice and speech professionals across six continents. Its membership of 600+ practitioners is organized around four interest groups — ArtsCore, BizCore, EduCore, and HealthCore — covering theatrical, corporate, educational, and clinical voice and speech work. VASTA's core products and programs include a 4-5 day annual conference (held in a rotating host city, with the 2026 edition scheduled for Los Angeles on October 14-18), the peer-reviewed academic journal Voice and Speech Review (published in partnership with Routledge/Taylor & Francis), a member job board ($50 per 30-day posting reaching the full membership), awards and grant programs including EDIA+, Conference Travel Awards, and MEG grants (combined annual disbursements of roughly $15,000), and a Mentorship Program scheduled for 2026 launch. The association also operates a Leadership Legacy Fund, a Regional Ambassadors program (with active representation in Australia), and longstanding co-conference arrangements with ATHE dating to 1986.

VASTA runs on a community-association technology stack dominated by ClubExpress as the underlying association management system, with Google Groups used for community discussion (notably the VASTAvox group) and Zoom for virtual meetings and programming. Voice and Speech Review is published by Routledge, giving the association access to established academic indexing, peer review infrastructure, and library distribution channels that a small non-profit could not independently operate.

The business model is a traditional non-profit membership association model. Revenue derives from individual membership dues, conference registration fees, job board listing fees ($50 per 30-day posting), donations (including the Leadership Legacy Fund campaign targeting $50,000), and journal access or licensing arrangements through Routledge. The organization operates with approximately 22 staff positions and is described as heavily volunteer-driven, consistent with its small scale relative to its global membership footprint.

Name

Voice and Speech Trainers Association - VASTA

Legal name

Voice and Speech Trainers Association

Website

https://vasta.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1986

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Voice and Speech Trainers Association (VASTA) is a non-profit professional membership association founded in 1986, serving 600+ voice and speech professionals across six continents through an annual conference, peer-reviewed journal, interest groups, and a 2026 mentorship program.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees provide access to publications, job board, Find A Voice Pro directory, virtual events, member discounts on conferences and Routledge Press books, and professional development awards and grants
2. Job Board Listings: 30-day job listings at $50 USD, reaching over 600 voice and speech professionals
3. Conference Registration: Annual conference fees with member discounts; non-members pay $169 USD/year for VSR journal access
4. Donations: Tax-deductible donations supporting awards, grants, mentorship program, conference, and Leadership Legacy Fund
5. Physical Journal Copies: Printed VSR journal available at discounted rate of $10 for members vs $169 for non-members

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

VASTA is a 501(c)-style non-profit professional membership association that delivers a year-round ecosystem of services for voice and speech trainers, including recurring annual membership with bundled publication access, the peer-reviewed Voice and Speech Review (VSR) journal, the quarterly VASTA Voice newsletter, the VASTAvox online community, the Find A Voice Pro public directory, the annual conference, virtual events and recorded trainings, a job board, mentorship, and an awards and grants program. Revenue comes from individual member dues, conference registration, job listing fees, journal access fees for non-members, and tax-deductible donations.

Product overview

VASTA (Voice and Speech Trainers Association) is a professional membership organization offering a comprehensive ecosystem of products and services for voice and speech professionals. The core offerings include the Voice and Speech Review (VSR) peer-reviewed journal published by Routledge, The VASTA Voice quarterly newsletter, the VASTAvox online community on Google Groups, the Find A Voice Pro public directory, and the annual VASTA Conference. Additional services include a Mentorship Program (launching 2026), over 24 annual virtual events with recorded trainings, a Jobs Board, an Awards & Grants Program offering nearly $15,000 annually, four Interest Groups (ArtsCore, BizCore, EduCore, HealthCore), a Member Book List, and a Document Library with archives dating to 1985. The organization operates as a unified professional community platform rather than a software product.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Voice and Speech Review (VSR): VASTA's peer-reviewed scholarly journal published by Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group), publishing three issues per year focused on voice and speech topics and training for the performing arts.
• The VASTA Voice
• VASTAvox

Products and services

• Voice and Speech Review (VSR) Journal VASTA's peer-reviewed scholarly journal published by Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group), issuing three issues per year online (two general and one themed) covering voice and speech topics and training for the performing arts. Free online access for VASTA members; $169/year for non-members; $10 printed copy for members.
• The VASTA Voice Newsletter VASTA's quarterly member newsletter featuring letters, articles, announcements, special topic articles, committee updates, and member news, published since 1987.
• VASTAvox Online Community Online community hosted on Google Groups allowing members and non-members to discuss voice and speech topics, with message attachments, topic sorting, full HTML formatting, and archive search capabilities.
• Find A Voice Pro Directory Public directory of voice and speech professionals from around the world, allowing members to create listings searchable by anyone looking for voice specialists. Publicly accessible to non-member searchers.
• Annual VASTA Conference Annual four-to-five day in-person conference featuring featured presentations, invited presentations, and member presentations on voice and speech topics, with rotating global locations and member discounts of $100 off registration.
• VASTA Mentorship Program 8-week cohort-based mentorship program connecting emerging voice and speech professionals with established educators and practitioners through guided conversations and structured topics, with two career tracks.
• Virtual Events and Recorded Trainings Over 24 virtual events per year plus dozens of recorded trainings, workshops, and events delivered via Zoom, covering online course creation, business fundamentals, networking strategies, and professional voice techniques. Free for VASTA members.
• VASTA Jobs Board Job board listing full-time, part-time, contract, and freelance positions for voice and speech professionals across academic, arts, business, and healthcare sectors. 30-day postings at $50 USD reaching 600+ voice and speech professionals.
• Awards & Grants Program Eleven annual grants and awards offering nearly $15,000 to members, including the Clyde Vinson Memorial Scholarship, EDIA+ Conference Travel Scholarship, Annual Conference Travel Awards, Member Enrichment Grants, Dorothy Mennen Research & Development Grant, Dudley Knight Award, Rocco Dal Vera Graduate Research Award, VSR Forum Article of the Year Award, and VASTA Research Fellowship.
• Interest Groups (ArtsCore, BizCore, EduCore, HealthCore) Four interest groups serving distinct member segments: ArtsCore for arts and entertainment freelancers, BizCore for business and consulting voice professionals, EduCore for academic voice and speech educators, and HealthCore for voice health and wellness practitioners.
• VASTA Member Book List Curated list of books written by VASTA members covering voice and speech training topics, organized by categories including VASTA Sponsored Books, Heightened Text/Verse, Pedagogy, Voice and Identity, and Voice Science.
• Document Library Comprehensive resource library containing conference documents, newsletter archives dating back to 1985, EDIA+ documents, VSR documents, and VASTA publications accessible to members.
• Annual VASTA Membership Annual individual membership providing access to publications (free VSR online, quarterly VASTA Voice), Find A Voice Pro directory listing, job board access, 15–24 free virtual events per year, 30% discount on Routledge Press books, $100 off annual conference registration, access to interest groups, and eligibility for the awards and grants program.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly $15,000 in awards and grants awarded annually to members
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• League of Professional Theatre WomenminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 8 December 2025Co-production partnership with ArtsCore for 'Introduction to Dialect Design for Producers & Directors' event, created as part of ArtsCore's mission to raise the positive profile of voice/speech/text coaches within the entertainment industry
• Association of Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerActive relationship since 1986; every three years VASTA conference held in same city as ATHE conference; VASTA maintains a Focus Group at ATHE through which members present workshops, panels, and papers on voice and speech related topics at annual ATHE conference
• Routledge (Taylor & Francis Group)coreTechnology or IntegrationPublisher of Voice and Speech Review journal; provides members free online access to all VSR content and 30% discount on Routledge Press online book orders

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA): ASHA is a large professional association for speech-language pathologists and audiologists with memberships, peer-reviewed journals, annual conventions, and CE programs. VASTA explicitly references a joint statement with ASHA on roles of voice professionals (per vasta.org/ASHA_NATS_PAVA_VASTA_Joint_Statement), positioning ASHA as an adjacent organization covering related voice/speech disciplines at much larger scale.
• Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE): ATHE is a national professional association for theatre higher education with which VASTA has maintained a co-located conference partnership since 1986. ATHE serves a broader academic theatre constituency including voice/speech faculty, making it a core strategic partner and adjacent peer.

Direct peers

• The Voice Foundation: The Voice Foundation is a professional organization dedicated to voice care, research, and training, publishing the Journal of Voice and hosting annual symposia. It serves overlapping voice science and clinical practice communities relevant to VASTA's HealthCore interest group.
• National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS): NATS is a professional membership association for singing teachers that, like VASTA, offers memberships, an academic journal (Journal of Singing), annual conferences, and serves voice professionals across academic and performance settings. NATS is the closest direct peer in voice pedagogy professionalization, though focused on singing versus VASTA's broader voice/speech/dialect scope.
• Performing Arts Voice Association (PAVA): PAVA is a professional association serving voice professionals in performing arts, co-signing the joint voice professionals statement with VASTA. PAVA focuses on singing voice specialists and laryngologists with shared member populations in performing arts voice care, making it a directly comparable niche peer.
• Voice and Speech Trainers Association - VASTA (self-reference): The subject company itself.

Emerging players

• Speech and Communication Association: National Communication Association (NCA) is a scholarly society focused on communication studies with related publications and conferences. It serves an adjacent academic constituency with overlapping interests in rhetoric and spoken communication.
• Stage Directors and Choreographers Society (SDC): SDC is a professional organization for stage directors and choreographers with similar membership structure, conferences, and publications. It serves the broader theatre production community intersecting with VASTA's dialect/text coaching and directorial collaboration work.
• University/Resident Theatre Association (URTA): URTA is a professional association for graduate theatre training programs that connects academic institutions with voice/speech faculty. It serves an overlapping graduate theatre education constituency relevant to VASTA's EduCore interest group and academic membership segment.

Regional players

• League of Professional Theatre Women: The League of Professional Theatre Women is a New York-based professional network for women in theatre that co-produced a December 2025 'Introduction to Dialect Design' event with VASTA's ArtsCore. It serves an overlapping theatre professional constituency with networking and development programming.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/vasta
• Instagraminstagram.com/vastaorg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/voice-and-speech-trainers-association---vasta

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Voice and Speech Trainers Association - VASTA