Red Ladder Theatre Company: Outcomes and Community Impact

Red Ladder is an individually-focused, inclusive, and flexible educational approach. Now in its eighth year, Red Ladder serves almost 1,600 participants, a 14-fold increase since its inception. This rapid growth has been in direct response to community demand and is projected to continue to increase by a minimum of 5% every year. As formal evaluations demonstrate, Red Ladder has also continuously achieved remarkable results. Participants show increased short- and long-term abilities to make positive lifestyle choices and re-engage in learning.

Red Ladder also impacts our community and region through its extensive and mutually-rewarding partnerships with local and national organizations. Red Ladder strives to work in conjunction with educators and social service professionals on behalf of participants to create a strong network of support. Many of Red Ladder’s collaborative relationships are long-standing and have grown, over time, into committed partnerships.


Some of Red Ladder’s organizational and agency partners include:

  • City of San Jose’s Office of Cultural Affairs and Project Crackdown
  • City Year San Jose/Silicon Valley (local AmeriCorps youth service group)
  • Emma Prusch Memorial Park
  • Girl Scouts of Santa Clara County
  • MACSA (Mexican American Community Services Agency)
  • Santa Clara County Department of Corrections and Inmate Literacy Project
  • Santa Clara County Department of Health, “The Connection” and “The Siblings Program”
  • Santa Clara County Probation Department


Red Ladder’s long-standing school partnerships include:

  • Advent Girls School (an alternative school for girls)
  • Bill Wilson Center for homeless high school students
  • Eastfield Ming Quong
  • The Foundry School (an alternative high school for adjudicated youth)
  • Horace Mann Academy
  • Hubbard Elementary
  • Lincoln High School
  • Morgan Center for the developmentally disabled

In addition to these established partnerships, Red Ladder continues to launch promising collaborations with new community partners such as the Tech Museum of Innovation, Downtown College Preparatory, San Jose L.E.A.R.N.S. (City of San José after school program), and Planned Parenthood. It is Red Ladder’s hope that through continuing work with these organizations, they will join the list of long-time productive Red Ladder partners, and that new collaborating groups will continue to develop into partnering groups through this steady expansion process.

Red Ladder has received clear validation of its program’s significance and effectiveness, both nationally and locally through awards and conference participation. Awards to Red Ladder Theatre Company have come from organizations and agencies such as: the President’s Committee on the Arts, the National Endowment for the Arts, Ford Foundation, Bay Area Theatre Critic’s Circle, California Arts Council, and Girls Scouts of Santa Clara County. Red Ladder has hosted or presented at conferences such as: National Service Learning, America’s Promise, the National Conference of Idealism for City Year’s corps members, TeenWorks 2000 – the California State Youth Leadership Summit and the US/UK Exploratory Learning Partnership.

“Children are so fragile and their experiences in life can be turning points. Thank you for the difference Red Ladder is making in our community.” - Faith Borges, Past President, Junior League of San Jose, Inc.

“[At] each [Red Ladder] session our at-risk girls learned some new skill or trait that would be part of them forever.” - Sandy Rosero, Outreach Program Manager, Girl Scouts of Santa Clara County