GIVING ALL VOICES

THE OPPORTUNITY

TO CREATE.

CCA is a tuition-free portfolio school for aspiring creative professionals who lack the means to attend a traditional school.

Learn more

NO MINIMUM GPA REQUIRED.
NO FAMILY CONNECTIONS NECESSARY.
NO AGE LIMITATIONS.

NO TUITION.

Employers love portfolio schools because they know you’ll be prepared to hit the ground running on day one of your new job. But portfolio schools are expensive, making the cost of entry prohibitive to many talented would-be creatives.

Which is why we exist.

When you graduate from CCA, sure, we’ll give you a diploma to hang on the wall, but you’ll also have something far more valuable — a body of work to shop around to ad agencies, design firms and in-house corporate creative departments.

To attend CCA, you can be any age, but you must demonstrate the following two things:

  1. That you have the desire, drive and creativity to make it in a business-based creative environment.
  2. That your financial situation merits  free tuition.

Course curriculum will involve everything from the types of creative careers available, to learning how to frame and sell big ideas. But the main focus will be on helping you create a personal portfolio. Weekly assignments will be met with feedback and advice from mentors and guest lecturers - almost all of whom are working professionals themselves. Courses are flexible and happen at night, allowing you to work full time while attending. CCA meets two nights a week for 20 weeks.

THE CCA DIFFERENCE

We’ve talked to enough employers across the country to know that, in large part, the problem isn’t a lack of desire to hire more diversity in creative departments. The problem is a talent pool to select from that lacks diversity.

Hiring mandates and quotas, although admirable and well-intentioned, don’t address the root of the problem. There are many reasons for this, including cost of entry. Obviously our school was created to address that issue. But we also know that advertising and design aren’t necessarily top of mind and thought of as viable career options for many kids coming from less-fortunate backgrounds. It’s quite simply, not even on their radar. And that’s where we can make a significant difference. By addressing the problem far enough upstream. It’s why we strive to work with guidance counselors at high schools in low-income neighborhoods, with local community leaders and youth groups, community colleges, and even organizations that aid the wrongfully accused and incarcerated.

Because all voices deserve the opportunity to create.

Diverse teams are more creative. By reaching back to the community and bringing opportunity to those who might not otherwise find it, CCA is defining the future of talent. I cannot wait to see the success this program will bring to CCA and those who benefit from it.

CCA IS ADDRESSING THE ROUTE-CAUSE OF THAT PROBLEM.

— Nancy Mendelsohn, Founder/Tiny Giants Talent

OUR MISSION

To increase the socioeconomic diversity of the talent pool of creative professionals in the state of Connecticut.

WE’RE LOOKING FOR PARTNERS AND SPONSORS

CCA is a non-profit school. We count on corporate sponsors and donations to operate. In addition to our impressive list of instructors and guest lecturers — and unlike other no-tuition schools — we provide computer access, software, even subsidized transportation to and from our classroom.

If you are interested in becoming a corporate sponsor of CCA, fill out the form below.

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