UPAF honors First Stage Children's Theater with Management Excellence Award

Managing Director Rob Goodman with the Management Excellence Award given by UPAF to First Stage Children's Theater in December 2010. Photo by Mithra Ballesteros, First Stage Children's Theater.

During each campaign year, the United Performing Arts Fund awards an annual Management Excellence Award to member groups that display exceptional work in areas of finance and management. We are proud to announce that First Stage Children’s Theater is this year’s recipient of the United Performing Arts Fund’s Management Excellence Award. First Stage will be awarded with an additional $7,500 towards their total allocation for this honor at UPAF’s Annual Meeting on December 7th.

“First Stage is truly honored to have received the UPAF Management Excellence Award for the second year in a row. We attribute our success to a board and staff dedicated to excellence in all areas of our mission with a focus on fiscal stability. We are proud to have a consistently balanced budget without cutting services despite the economic downturn and we appreciate UPAF’s public recognition of our success with this award,” said Rob Goodman, Managing Director.

In accordance with our mission, First Stage enriches the lives of thousands of youth each year, filling the gap left by what is offered in schools and improving academic performance, creative and critical thinking skills, as well as discipline and focus. UPAF funding supports all three areas of First Stage’s mission:

• Professional theater productions that engage, enlighten, and entertain
• Theater Academy training that fosters life skills through stage skills
• Dynamic in-school education programs that promote learning through theater

All First Stage programming shares a common purpose – to educate and enrich the lives of our community’s young people. As our largest donor, UPAF helps us keep our programming accessible and allows us to help children develop skills fundamental to success in life. Thank you UPAF! We are grateful for this award and for all of your support.