At The Dallas Foundation, our mission goes beyond supporting immediate needs — we partner with organizations that transform the systems holding our community back. Big Thought is one of those partners, and their work is essential to building opportunity, creativity, and resilience across Dallas.
What Big Thought Does
Big Thought equips young people — especially those from marginalized communities — with the skills, mindset, and confidence to imagine and build their best lives. For more than three decades, they’ve combined arts education, social-emotional learning, out-of-school programming, summer initiatives, and even justice-impacted youth work to address the opportunity gap.
They work in three strategic ways:
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Direct programming for youth, delivering hands-on creative and learning experiences.
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Learning systems, by connecting partners — schools, community organizations, civic institutions — around a shared vision for youth development.
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Consulting through the Big Thought Institute, scaling their model, sharing their design research, and helping other organizations learn from their evidence-informed practices.
Why This Work Matters
In Dallas and beyond, many young people lack regular access to creative, enriching learning outside of school. Programs like SEL Dallas, a coalition between Big Thought, Dallas ISD, and other partners, build critical social-emotional skills both in and out of the classroom. These efforts don’t just support school success — they help young people navigate life, relationships, and challenges with greater resilience.
Their “creator-focused” approach is powerful. Through creative expression — whether visual arts, performance, writing, or design — youth discover their voice and agency. For justice-impacted youth, Big Thought’s trauma‑informed programming offers a path to healing and reimagined futures.
Our Collaboration
We partner with Big Thought because they don’t just deliver programs — they reshape systems. At The Dallas Foundation, we support their deep-rooted, high-impact work in building learning ecosystems. When children and youth have access to creative learning, social-emotional support, and mentorship, we lay the foundation for long-term change.
Through joint investments, we help expand Big Thought’s reach and sustain the community partnerships that make their model so effective. Together, we are helping more young people tap into their creativity, grow their confidence, and unlock future opportunities.
How to Support Big Thought’s Mission
Big Thought’s vision continues to grow. As they scale their learning systems and deepen their impact in Dallas, their work becomes an increasingly powerful engine for equity and transformation. With The Dallas Foundation standing beside them, we are more confident than ever in the future we are building — one where imagination leads to action, and action leads to progress.