Empowered by Artists.
 

Third Streaming: a results-focused, purpose-driven consultancy.

 

Third Streaming is a global strategic consultancy that supports nonprofit organizations and foundations working in arts and culture at the intersection of social justice. Third Streaming also partners with individual artists and their families on legacy planning, archiving projects, and managing artists’ estates. 

We are highly-connected agents of change, committed to innovation, creativity, growth, artistic practice, and our communities.

Founded in 2010 by Yona Backer ⁠— a strategist, cultural producer, and specialist in nonprofit management — Third Streaming provides a range of integrated services. We partner with our clients to build out their organizations, enabling them to work at scale for long-term sustainability. To create organizational change, Third Streaming offers strategy and guidance, program development and evaluation, production services, research, development strategies, and fundraising campaigns. Our approach varies, but is always mission-aligned, collaborative, and purpose-driven. To get the best results, Third Streaming augments our projects in cross-sector research.

What drives us is our commitment to raising consciousness through the arts and to making our world a better place for all.

 
 
 
 
 
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Art has the power to raise our consciousness, and reimagine this world.

 
 
 
Butch Morris, "9/11 Break up to Make up, Choral Interpretations on the Writings of Maurice Blanchot.” Performance, September 11, 2010 (Conduction®), Third Streaming Gallery. Image credit Whitney Browne.

Butch Morris, "9/11 Break up to Make up, Choral Interpretations on the Writings of Maurice Blanchot.” Performance, September 11, 2010 (Conduction®), Third Streaming Gallery. Image credit Whitney Browne.

 
 

What Third Streaming Does

  • STRATEGY, PERFORMANCE & CAPACITY BUILDING

    We provide a comprehensive suite of integrated management consulting tools to strengthen organizational performance for long-term sustainability.

  • PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

    We evaluate programs, outcomes, and processes to improve performance and increase efficiency for meaningful impact.

  • IMPACT EVALUATION

    We measure impact of grant programs using qualitative and quantitative methods.

  • LEGACY PLANNING

    We offer strategies and structures of artists’ legacies and estates management.

 
 

How Third Streaming Works

We partner with our clients to help leverage their existing resources, and empower them to take their organization to the next level. We work to establish a culture of cooperation, integrity, trust, transparency, and joy. We ensure confidentiality, loyalty, and targeted expertise. 

 

By doing so, we help clients:

  • Gain clarity about what they are doing and where they are going

  • Create internal alignment

  • Strengthen the impact of their work

  • Achieve their highest aspirations

 
 
 
 
"Social,” Derrick Adams. From the "Paladar" dinner series, October 1, 2014, Third Streaming Gallery. Image credit Whitney Browne.

"Social,” Derrick Adams. From the "Paladar" dinner series, October 1, 2014, Third Streaming Gallery. Image credit Whitney Browne.

 
 

What Third Streaming Believes In

Third Streaming upholds our reputation for passion-driven art leadership by prioritizing artists and artistic practice at the intersection of social justice. We work alongside our clients ⁠— who understand the critical role artists play in larger society ⁠— to make our world a better place. To accomplish this, Third Streaming creates safe places where we ask the hard questions. Real transformation happens when we are willing to get out of our comfort zone and embrace change. Through empowerment and knowledge-sharing, Third Streaming is able to create pathways for new visions to manifest.

 
 

Who Third Streaming Works With

  • Nonprofit arts and culture institutions

  • Foundations supporting arts and culture initiatives

  • Artist-endowed foundations

  • Individual artists and artist estates

  • Charitably-minded families and individuals

 
 
 
 

Work For Individual Artists

Legacy Planning

Estate Management

Professional Development

Market Advice and Strategic Planning

 

 
 
 
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YONA BACKER

Proven Leadership for the Arts

Yona is an active listener with an exceptional ability to see multiple sides of a situation, which enables her to successfully navigate complex webs of authority and responsibility. She believes collaborative solutions and transparent processes are key to achieve successful outcomes. She is able to see the whole and make the parts fit. Her skills include helping organizations envision their next evolution, and articulating the steps necessary to get there.

 
 
Image credit Whitney Browne.

Image credit Whitney Browne.