Monica Rosenthal: Actress and Philanthropist

The seeds for the organization were planted in the nineties when Kevin became an L.A. high school English teacher and created a theatre workshop, where he brought together multicultural students from lower economic backgrounds to create amazing autobiographical dance/theatre shows. Through Kevin’s work, both he and Monica were reminded of what a positive effect the process of performing had for them during their teen years. They saw how Kevin’s enthusiastic students benefited from having a place to go where they could creatively express what was going on in their world, at a time when peer pressures to go in a negative direction were constant.

Kevin and Monica also saw that funding for arts programs in LA public schools dropped off in middle and high school years, and so the idea to create Flourish began.

“Kevin and I spent a long time articulating our vision,” she tells me. “It’s not like you just throw money at a problem to solve it, you have to find out how that money will best solve the problem in a meaningful way.”

In 2006, its first official year, 4000 young people and community members in L.A. benefited from Flourish. Its projects included granting scholarships to inner-city students to attend UCLA’s performing arts programs, providing materials so teachers could bring the arts into classrooms, and mentoring young artists from underserved communities so they could teach and bring their talents back to their neighborhoods, serving as both instructors and role models in their communities.

We had to dash from lunch into Monica’s Hybrid, to pick up her daughter from school. En route, she got on her cell with her assistant who was helping her out with the latest Flourish project, working with Inner City Arts (another L.A. non-profit) to build a theatre in downtown Los Angeles for young performers. “I’m so excited… it’s really happening,” Monica said, full of awe and gratitude.