Piper Fellow:
Becky Bell Ballard

Ballard’s work at Rosie’s House: A Music Academy for Children is focused on providing creative youth development programs to youth from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. Leading one of the largest free afterschool music programs nationwide, Ballard believes strongly in finding methods and solutions to address the disparity in access to music education. Under her tenure, Rosie’s House has achieved a 123% increase in program participation while building out critical capacity infrastructure, including recently completing a $6.5 million campaign for the acquisition, renovation, and expansion of services within a 15,000-square-foot building in the heart of downtown Phoenix.

Before joining Rosie’s House, Ballard oversaw the Phoenix Symphony’s Community Engagement Department, where she managed initiatives that impacted 80,000 children and adults annually. She also worked with the Lake Forest Symphony and Arizona State University’s School of Music. She completed the National Arts Strategies Chief Executive Training Program in 2017. As a musician, Ballard enjoys playing piano and horn. She serves as an advisory board member for the Grammy-winning Phoenix Chorale, a board member for the Downtown Chamber Series, and is actively involved with Valley Leadership in Maricopa County.

Ballard’s Fellowship will focus on the power of relevancy in developing engaging and reflective youth programs by specifically exploring the frameworks of culturally sustaining pedagogy and youth-directed programming. Plans include observing three youth-serving systems including the National Batuta Foundation in Colombia. In addition, recognizing that approximately 80% of Rosie’s House families are primarily Spanish speakers, Ballard will work to improve her Spanish skills through an intensive language course of study. Finally, Ballard plans to attend the Stanford Executive Leadership Development Program to determine how to best implement innovations learned through the Fellowship.