San Francisco Youth Theatre’s (SFYT) mission is to transform youth and communities through fully accessible opportunities in arts creation, education, and performance, fostering personal growth and creating lasting social impact. Founded in 2014, SFYT seeks to close the arts achievement gap for underserved youth, while elevating the genre of youth theatre through artwork that inspires social change.

SFYT’s vision is that all youth have the opportunity to flourish, express themselves, and create social change through active art making. Our purpose is give youth accessible opportunities to become:
–Powerful storytellers who create original work under the guidance of high-quality teaching artists.
–Inquisitive learners who gain the creative skills and language to express their artistic ideas.
–Confident artists who grow by being part of a community that values kindness and invites safe risk-taking.
–Respectful citizens who celebrate the differences of youth from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, abilities, gender and sexual orientation, races and cultures.
–Successful individuals who create art that demands discipline, commitment, responsibility and independence.

SFYT achieves this vision through a dynamic program design with exemplary artists that attract a diverse student body, community partnerships, and performance engagements. The organization’s five major goals are to:
–Provide high-quality theatre arts classes and performance opportunities, both onsite and in public schools.
–Create and perform a repertoire of original plays and musicals that speak to the unique sensibilities of youth.
–Support emerging theatre professionals in arts careers.
–Produce and present work for general audiences, with outreach to new theatergoers.
–Build an equitable community through the performing arts.