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Colors of Connection
Brooklyn, NY · EIN 464114716 · Form 990EZ · FY2024 · NTEE Q30 · International Affairs · Small ($100K-$1M) · colorsofconnection.org
revenue
$169K
expenses
$189K
net assets
$91K
employees
—
mission · from form 990

Psychosocial arts-based programming

profile · synthesized from sources

Colors of Connection delivers psychosocial, arts-based programming for girls and young women in conflict-affected regions of Sub-Saharan Africa, with a focus on eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The organization uses creative expression and evidence-based tools to promote gender equality, heal trauma, and build leadership among marginalized youth. Programs are implemented in partnership with local organizations and international donors.

named programs · 3 · from sources

What they call their work

Courage in Congo
Early project supporting 35 out-of-school girls in Goma, DRC through psychosocial support, skills development, and creation of public murals celebrating female strength, agency, and leadership in response to pervasive sexual violence and discrimination.
Musichana Hamuka (Girl Awakening)
Year-round program in Goma, DRC providing a safe, female-only space for girls aged 10-12 to develop life skills, receive school scholarships, build social networks, and advocate for their rights through arts-based activities and evidence-based practices from the Population Council.
Tunaweza Portraits
Project engaging 27 girls and young women from the Courage in Congo project in therapeutic art activities, leadership development, and public forums to challenge gender stereotypes and depict women in non-traditional roles through public murals and posters.
activities · 5 groups

What they do

  • Creative Arts Therapy Programs 3 activities
    • Conducts research on arts-based interventions for trauma recovery and girls’ agency
      Generates evidence on the impact of creative safe spaces for girls in post-conflict recovery, including analysis of the Musichana Hamuka (Girl Awakening) program in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Findings have been recognized in academic publications, including a case study in _Community Arts Education: Transversal Global Perspectives_.
    • Delivers trauma-informed, arts-based psychosocial programs for girls and youth in conflict-affected areas
      Provides mental health and psychosocial support through creative activities such as drawing, theater, music, dance, and public mural-making to promote healing, resilience, and emotional expression among girls, young people, and women in low-resource and post-conflict environments, including refugee camps and urban communities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Programs are designed to create safe spaces for trauma processing and relationship-building.
    • Develops and shares open-access creative toolkits for youth engagement in low-resource settings
      Produces and disseminates a publicly accessible collection of trauma-informed creative activities—including drawing, theater, music, and dance—for use by practitioners working with youth in low-resource and crisis-affected environments.
  • Nonprofit Capacity Building Services 1 activity
    • Builds capacity of local partner organizations in fundraising and networking
      Conducts capacity-building initiatives with local teams, including training in fundraising, research, and networking, as demonstrated in a community project with girls and mentors in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  • Community-Engaged Public Art Projects 1 activity
    • Creates public art projects to advance social norms change and community cohesion
      Engages girls and youth in designing and producing murals and posters that amplify youth voices, challenge harmful narratives, and promote gender equality and human rights. These public art initiatives have reached over 412,000 community members across conflict-affected regions, with documented outputs including 60+ murals and associated posters.
  • Girls' Education Access Initiatives 1 activity
    • Implements education access and empowerment programs for girls in post-conflict settings
      Supports girls' enrollment and retention in education through scholarship and holistic support programs, directly enrolling 110 girls in school. Also reaches hundreds of girls—such as 429 documented—with gender equality programming focused on personal growth, leadership development, and social change.
  • Annual Impact and Evaluation Reporting 1 activity
    • Publishes annual and project-specific reports documenting program impact and operations
      Produces annual reports for multiple years (2018–2024) and project-specific reports on initiatives such as Girl Awakening, Tunaweza Portraits, Courage in Congo, and refugee camp programs to document organizational activities, outcomes, and lessons learned.
financials · form 990EZ · fy2024
revenue
Total revenue$169K
Contributions & grants$169K100%
Program service revenue——
Investment income——
Other revenue—
expenses
Total expenses$189K
Program expenses—
Admin / overhead—
Fundraising—
Salaries & benefits$98K
Grants paid out—
balance sheet
Total assets$91K
Cash—
Investments—
Liabilities—
Net assets$91K
5 years on record · 2020–2024 · YoY revenue -8.8%
leadership · form 990 part vii · fy2024

Who runs it

board members · 1
  • Laura J Hoffman — Board Chair
relationships · 23

Who they work with

  • Build Community 4 Girls Partner — Featured in an article on Build Community 4 Girls about prioritizing mental health for adolescent girls, indicating a partnership or collaborative focus.
  • Children's Voice Partner — Partnered on the Tunaweza Portraits project to support girls and young women through art and leadership development.
  • Community Arts Council Partner — Collaborates with youth and local leaders to formulate messages for public murals.
  • Courage in Congo Project Partner — Collaborated on murals promoting women in the workforce and women's leadership development in the DRC in 2016.
  • Girl Awakening Program Partner — Collaborative program in Goma, DRC providing safe spaces for girls to heal from trauma and build leadership skills.
  • Girl Awakening Project Partner — Collaborated on multiple girls' rights and health center patients' rights murals in the DRC in 2022.
  • Goudoubo Refugee Camp Partner — Program site in Burkina Faso supporting emotional well-being and development of out-of-school refugee youth through arts-based interventions.
  • Goudoubo Refugee Camp Project Partner — Partnered on peaceful cohabitation and education-focused murals at Goudoubo Refugee Camp in Burkina Faso in 2014.
  • IEDA-Relief Partner — Partner organization in Burkina Faso where Colors of Connection conducted work with conflict-affected youth through art-based programming.
  • International Rescue Committee Partner — Partner organization in the DRC where Colors of Connection implemented programs for adolescent girls and young women in conflict-affected communities.
  • International Rescue Committee Partner — Partnered on the Tunaweza Portraits project to engage girls and young women in leadership and public art.
  • Little Wlebo Refugee Camp Project Partner — Partnered on peace and education murals in Liberia in 2012.
  • Mentao Refugee Camp Project Partner — Partnered on peace and education-themed murals at Mentao Refugee Camp in Burkina Faso in 2014.
  • Philanthropy New York Partner — Published an article titled “How Funders Can Use the Power of Art to Heal in Post-Conflict Settings” through Philanthropy New York, indicating a knowledge-sharing or collaborative relationship.
  • Population Council Partner — Partnered through the Adolescent Girls’ Community of Practice to deliver the Musichana Hamuka program using evidence-based girl-centered tools.
  • Populations Council Partner — Hosts Colors of Connection's practitioner resources on the Knowledge Commons platform of the Populations Council, indicating a collaborative relationship.
  • Principles of Teaching the Arts in Education Course Partner — Collaborated on a transformation through service mural in Liberia in 2012.
  • Real Play Coalition Partner — Recognized as a winner of the 2022 Real Play City Challenge, indicating collaboration or partnership with the Real Play Coalition.
  • Sub-Saharan Africa Network — Primary geographic focus for programs supporting trauma-affected communities through art and mental health initiatives.
  • Tulizo Elle Space Partner — Local partner organization in the DRC that collaborated on a community project with girls and mentors, receiving capacity building support from Colors of Connection.
  • Tunaweza Portraits Project Partner — Partnered on a series of murals and posters celebrating women's roles in education, construction, art, and leadership in the DRC in 2019.
  • Tunaweza Portraits Project Partner — Program in Goma, DRC using portraiture and arts-based activities to promote female leadership and community dialogue on gender roles.
  • Visions of Hope Project Partner — Collaborated on health, culture, energy, market, and education murals in Liberia between 2011 and 2012.
strategies · 3

How they approach the work

Named approaches extracted from this org’s sources. Where others share an approach, follow it to see the full set of orgs running it.

  • Arts-Based Trauma Healing
    methodology: art-based_trauma_healing
    By engaging youth and communities in creative arts activities, we promote psychological healing, resilience, and self-determination in trauma-affected populations, because artistic expression provides a non-verbal, embodied pathway to process trauma and reclaim agency.
  • Community-Based Empowerment Through Co-Leadership
    methodology: cascading_leadership
    By using cascading leadership and participatory art processes, we build local capacity and sustain impact, because sharing leadership with community members who have lived experience fosters ownership, trust, and long-term resilience.
  • Public Art for Social Norms Change
    methodology: public_art_for_social_norms_change
    By co-creating public murals and art installations with youth and community leaders, we shift harmful social norms and strengthen social cohesion, because visible, collective expression reframes community narratives and empowers marginalized voices to lead cultural change.