Twenty-one years ago, MICA alum Susan Malone ’97 (Photography BFA) began working as manager of programs at Wide Angle Youth Media — a Baltimore nonprofit that uses media arts education to collaborate with and amplify the voices of Baltimore youth. Her efforts over the years led to the expansion of the organization’s youth programming, a focus on workforce development, and the launch of Wide Angle Productions, which serves over 30 clients a year. To date, the nonprofit has worked with over 7,790 youth from across Baltimore City who have produced thousands of media projects about their lives and communities.

Today, Malone is executive director of Wide Angle, and her hard work not only propelled her into a leadership role there, it helped build an organization that was recently honored with a $2 million grant from MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving Open Call, announced on March 19.

Launched in March 2023, Open Call invited community-led, community-focused organizations to apply for grants. More than 6,300 applications were received, and awardees — including Wide Angle — were given grants ranging from $1 to $2 million each.

Wide Angle is home to others in the MICA community, including Aleeia Townes ’24 (Graphic Design BFA), design intern; Dan Flounders ’21 (Graphic Design BFA), design manager; Moira Fratantuono ’10 (Community Arts MFA), development and communications director; Hannah Shaw ’18 (Social Design MA), communications manager; and David Sloan ’08 (Community Arts MFA), production director.