“Aroha is a private foundation based in Minneapolis, MN. [It] fulfills its mission to awaken creative expression and build communities through its three program branches, each with a different area of focus: Discovery Arts: Sparking wonder through creativity for children and youth; Vitality Arts®: Inspiring creativity for ages 55 and better; Humanity Arts: Enhancing homes and empowering creativity for adults with mental illness.”

Creative Aging Focus:

Aroha Philanthropies’s President and Founder, Ellen Michelson, is the leading funder in creative aging programming in the U.S. Since 2014, Aroha has partnered with Lifetime Arts to deliver capacity building and seeding programs across the U.S. They have initiated national partnerships to support creative aging including: the National Assembly of Arts Agencies, the American Alliance of Museums, the National Guild for Community Arts Education. Recognizing the need for these programs across the country, Aroha Philanthropies developed a major multi-year initiative, Seeding Vitality Arts (SVA), in 2016. Using a learning cohort model, Aroha is equipping SVA grantees with all the tools needed to create highly successful programs.