Leader Interview: Ian Mouser, Recipient of the Lewis Prize

Last month, The Lewis Prize for Music — a newly established philanthropy that’s ambitiously investing in music leaders to facilitate positive change and increase access to music education — announced its inaugural class of awardees. A total of nearly $2 million is being awarded to leaders of music programs and organizations across the country.

We had the opportunity to connect with Ian Mouser, who received one of the inaugural awardees to chat about his work as an artist, educator, and community leader.

Ian founded My Voice Music in 2008 to provide a creative outlet for youth living in foster care and residential treatment settings to express themselves and find their own voice.  Prior to founding MVM, Mouser worked as a Program Director at Wilderness Trails (a free wilderness camp for youth in foster care), and as a Treatment Counselor and Music Teacher at Albertina Kerr Centers, serving youth experiencing mental health challenges.  Music and songwriting was a way to build real relationships with youth and it became a transformative tool in his work.  The stories Ian shared about his work soon inspired others to get involved…and the rest is history!

Since founding MVM Ian has received a Skidmore Prize, presented by the Willamette Week to excellent emerging non-profit leaders (2011); he was one of 32 recipients nationally  to receive a “Top of the Class” recognition by the National Afterschool Alliance, “celebrating passion, creativity and commitment to youth” in after-school settings (2014); and was a “runner up” for the Portland Business Journal’s “Forty under 40” awards recognizing leading executives under the age of 40 (2012).  As a musician, Mouser has performed with NW bands whose songs have been played at the MTV Video Music Awards and other interesting spots.  He continues to write and perform original music in his spare time.

Creative Generation: How do you describe the work that you do?

Ian Mouser: My Voice Music’s programs use the songwriting process to help youth find and share their voice. We believe that transformation begins with human to human moments where are joys, sorrows, and common humanity can be shared. Those moments change lives. At our community studio, and through outreach programs for youth living in rehabilitation facilities, we create space for these moments by writing, recording and performing songs with young people. 

CG: What is your origin story? How did you get to do this type of work?

IM: I brought my guitar into a residential rehabilitation facility while working as a Treatment Counselor with 8-12 year-olds. The first time I played it, one of the kids asked me to teach him how to play and write songs. I ended up teaching several kids and helping them form a band.  The songwriting and instruction process ended up having profound effects, not just during sessions, but through the entire week and beyond. They became more engaged in school and their therapeutic outcomes improved. Kids who had every reason to be angry and closed off started to open up. The rhythm and repetition of learning an instrument gave them an embodied way to process stress and trauma. Writing lyrics was a way to process their story(s).

Other clinicians recognized the impact and asked me to expand the work...I began traveling to residential facilities with borrowed instruments and my recording rig (comprised of an old-school tube monitor and computer tower) in a 1985 Toyota Van that was held together with duct tape, optimism, and a volunteer mechanic. 

The rest is history!

CG: What was the most significant change you have seen in the work that you do?

  1. Through the songwriting process, someone is seen and heard.

  2. They begin to feel safe with others and develop positive relationships with adults and peers; 

  3. Social and emotional support fosters resiliency and reveals a person's strengths; 

  4. They embrace the power of their voice and their story and start helping others find their gifts too.

Any of these steps alone will foster positive change. We see the impact of this change every day as participants navigate each stage and grow into the next together.  25% of our teachers are, or were, participants in our programs.

I’d like to share a couple of inspiring and significant examples of what this can look like.

A freshman in high school had just lost two close friends to gang violence when he walked through our doors. At the time, he was, in his words, "…so angry, I wasn't talking to anyone. I didn't know what to do." He ended up writing and recording songs about his experiences and performing throughout Portland. He also spoke at public events, in news interviews and radio shows, and was a featured panelist at Portland State University's "Art as Social Activism" conference. "You made my dream come true," he said. "I just wanted to get my message out…Music gave me a place to share what I needed to say." 

Another former student records songs and Youtube videos that frequently offer inspiration for surviving the foster care system based on her experiences. She has over 5k subscribers.

CG: How do you think your work, and its ripple effect, is changing your community and the world?

IM: Our work with youth recovering from trauma can have a profound impact and change the course of their lives and their family’s lives. By communicating a young person’s value and that their voice matters we have the potential to disrupt deep cycles of trauma and poverty. One community partner (at a program for girls recovering from sexual exploitation) attests, “The fact that MVM shows up and demonstrates genuine care and respect for the kids, and a passion for music and sharing music with others, communicates to these kids that they are capable, that what they have to share is important, and that they are worth caring about.” The impact of this work can be transformative for all young people too, regardless of their backgrounds.  We see it play-out within our public studio where youth attend from all walks of life.  

CG: How can investment, like The Lewis Prize, help the field working at the intersection of arts/culture, education, and social change?

Social-change through arts and culture requires more than free lessons and access to concerts. Music, and other arts,  can be important elements of youth programs that value long term relationship over academic rigor;  offer leadership opportunities and training;  and provide multiple pathways of engagement in response to diverse community interests and needs.

CG: What advice do you have for other changemakers around the world?

IM: Listen.