History: Over 20 Years of Impact

Wide Angle was founded in 2000 with the goal of providing Baltimore youth and communities with the media education and resources to represent themselves. Thanks to the support of the Open Society Institute’s Community Fellows Program, Founder Gin Ferrara propelled the organization’s development forward in 2001, enabling her to run Wide Angle full-time. Over the years, Wide Angle’s mission organically grew and sharpened, focusing primarily on youth; using media to help youth tell their stories, providing sustained opportunities for youth development, and sharing youth media with the larger community. In June 2010, Gin stepped down and Managing and Development Director Susan Malone (who started with Wide Angle in 2003) took on the role of Executive Director. Since then, Susan has led the Wide Angle team to achieve steady growth in program scale and impact.

Today, Wide Angle delivers free and accessible in- and out-of-school time creative youth development programming to more than 400 young people ages 10-24 annually. With a target population of youth from traditionally underserved demographic groups and neighborhoods, Wide Angle’s programs are an important educational supplement that builds academic and workforce-readiness skills. To date, the organization has served over 7,790 Baltimore City youth, who have produced hundreds of media projects about youth and community issues, such as school climate, community safety, and the environment. By learning to communicate, be responsible, and work in teams, young people in Wide Angle programs also learn skills to create self-sufficient lives.

Wide Angle’s future is bright, with a steadily growing board, budget, and working reserve.

Digital media created by Wide Angle students has reached over a million audience members through community presentations, film festivals, television, radio, exhibits, and online. In the spring of 2017, Wide Angle was nominated as a finalist for the National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Awards - the only finalist nominated in the state of Maryland. The organization was also named “Best Non-Profit” by the Baltimore City Paper in 2015. Wide Angle’s vision is to foster a new generation of storytellers, influence important conversations, and create an equitable society.