Time Warner Inc.
New York, New York

“Creativity is as important to the communities we serve as it is to the businesses we run. That’s why Time Warner is committed to supporting the arts. By giving young people a chance to develop their talents and interests through media and arts programs, enabling more people to experience world-class theater, and nurturing diverse new artists and new works, we strive to help keep the arts rich and accessible.”
- Richard D. Parsons, Chairman and CEO, Time Warner Inc.

Time Warner offers its employees opportunities to volunteer their time and build their leadership skills while providing valuable support and resources to the arts through a number of programs. Among these is the Time Warner Pro Bono Consulting program, which teams employee volunteers who have particular skills with not-for-profits to work on specific projects. Through a board placement program, the company offers employees training in how to serve on not-for-profit boards and then matches each participant with an organization. Time Warner also has a Matching Grants Program for employee contributions to arts and education organizations and a Volunteer Grants Program, which provides up to $1,000 to a not-for-profit once an employee has given 30 hours of volunteer service.

Each year, the Andrew Heiskell Community Service Awards are given to employees who have made exceptional contributions to public service. Awards include an individual honorarium and a donation to a not-for-profit of the employee’s choice. Additionally, employees can experience the arts through corporate membership admission plans, special events and free or discounted tickets to performing arts events underwritten by Time Warner.

Time Warner is committed to broadening public access to the arts in New York, its headquarter city. It underwrote a groundbreaking ticket initiative for the 15th anniversary season of Signature Theatre Company, which enabled the theater to offer every seat for every performance for $15. The results of this partnership: 37% of the audience was from underrepresented backgrounds, 50% were new buyers.

Time Warner and Signature recently announced $20 through 20, an extension of this program which will make discounted tickets available for the next four years. Since 2004, Time Warner has been a Lead Sponsor of Fall for Dance – a ten-day festival of diverse dance companies presented by New York City Center. The sponsorship covers a special $10 ticket designed to attract new audiences. Since Fall for Dance began in 2004, 20% of the audience has never or rarely been to a dance performance.

In 2006, Time Warner collaborated with the City Parks Foundation to present CityParks Theater, which offers free performances presented by community-based theaters in Harlem and Brooklyn parks. In 2007, CityParks Theater expanded to offer free theater performances on New York City’s Lower East Side.

The company’s Youth Media and Arts Fund supports after-school theater, film, journalism and other arts programs which give underserved teens the opportunity to develop their own artistic voices while gaining valuable learning skills. This year, the company awarded grants to 14 community-based youth media and arts organizations in New York City including City at Peace, Ghetto Film School, Queens Council on the Arts, Reel Works Teen Filmmaking and Urban Word NYC.

To help nurture diverse voices in the arts, Time Warner supports community-based arts organizations, funds the development of new works by underrepresented artists and supports programs for young people interested in careers in the arts. For example, with the company’s support, New York’s Second Stage Theatre created a program to commission new plays by 10 diverse writers. The company also created the Diverse Voices Small Theater Fund to help small theaters develop and produce works by women and other underrepresented artists. In 2006, Time Warner collaborated with The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs to launch Arts Advantage/NYC – a program to help small and midsize arts organizations develop effective marketing, fundraising and operating strategies. This year, Time Warner was a sponsor of the first National Asian American Theater Festival and was founding sponsor of TeatroStageFest, New York’s first international Latino theater festival.