Community Partner: Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute and Cultural Center
Peer Mentor: Kennedy McDaniel
Site Supervisor: Troy Burton
What is the Eubie Blake Cultural Center?
The Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute and Cultural Center brings artists and audiences from diverse
backgrounds together. We support, develop, promote and advocate for cultural and educational
programming in the visual and performing arts.
My internship at the Eubie Blake Cultural Center was beneficial to both my
personal and professional development as well as the organization itself. I
worked directly under the Executive Director, Troy Burton, and throughout
the internship period he welcomed any ideas I had about improving the
center. He gave me a lot of freedom in terms of programming and
administration, and I was able to enact several changes around the center
that will push us into a more forward thinking direction. Some of the
projects I worked on included creating an online voting platform and online
calendar for the Board of Directors, switching to Google for Nonprofits,
updating the logo of the center, and strengthening our relationship with
Bromo Arts + Entertainment District in order to attract more millennials to
the center. I was also able to put together 'Sounds of Black Love,' a concert
where several Baltimore School for the Arts students and other Baltimore
musicians and poets came together and performed in order for the Black
community in Baltimore to heal after this recent upsetting news cycle. I
really loved working at the Eubie Blake Cultural Center this summer, and
my internship allowed me to feel like I was truly making a difference in my
community. Troy and I have an excellent working relationship, and he has
decided to offer me a part‐time job at the center during the school year.
Now, I can work in the community year‐round and incorporate community
service into my lifestyle. I couldn't be more enthusiastic about continuing
my work at the Eubie Blake Cultural Center, and I am so grateful to CIIP for
giving me this o