underserved communities

The Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) Foundation’s Global Grants Program funds a diverse range of charitable projects benefiting underserved communities, and especially young people, worldwide.

The summer of 2025 brought a harsh financial reality. Like so many nonprofits in the United States this year, we lost more than 50% in foundation funding—money we’d counted on to hire adult teachers for our summer programming. We couldn’t bring in the experienced instructors who had anchored our summer camps in previous years.

This loss created an unexpected void that my teaching team and I didn’t know how to fill. To our surprise, our Urban Fellows and Junior Fellows—a group of our older and emerging student leaders—stepped up to fill the void.

The story of Sinfónica Azteca begins about five years ago, when the world was just beginning to reemerge from the COVID-19 pandemic. Across the globe, music programs and youth orchestras were struggling to survive. The need to restore trust in live music and reignite enthusiasm among young musicians had never been greater.

In Mexico, this posed a double challenge, since we had always lacked a national youth orchestra capable of uniting the country’s young musicians in high-caliber, immersive artistic experiences.

In the world of arts education, we often discuss the importance of creating engaging, transformative experiences for young people. However, the challenge lies in ensuring that these experiences lead to lasting positive change. How can teaching artists not only foster creativity but also help students grow emotionally and socially? The answer may lie in positive psychology, a field dedicated to enhancing human wellbeing and potential.