Educational Institution & School Group Partnerships Volunteer — Mabuhay Gardens (CrowdDoing)

Organization: Mabuhay Gardens (via CrowdDoing)

Initiative: Heritage & Cultural Programming

Location: Hybrid — remote-friendly with optional on-site visits

Type: Volunteer, service-learning

Commitment: Flexible, part-time, ongoing

Reports into: Mabuhay Programming Curator

About the initiative

Mabuhay Gardens is a storied cultural venue with a legendary history. The building has hosted performances by legends including Louis Armstrong, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Dead Kennedys, Iggy Pop, The Sex Pistols, The Ramones, The Specials, Metallica, Guns N' Roses, Herbie Hancock, R.E.M., Robin Williams, Whoopi Goldberg, Soundgarden, Bad Religion, Dave Chappelle, and many others. Via CrowdDoing, we are regenerating the Mab as a hybrid cultural ecosystem: live music, dance, comedy, rentals, popup culinary lab, off-peak wellness partnerships, art-walk activations, and solarpunk / regenerative-culture programming.

Schools, teacher networks, and arts programs are always looking for cultural field-trip destinations and oral-history partners, but a working music venue rarely appears on their radar. We're looking for someone who can help K-12 schools, teacher networks, and arts programs discover the Mab as a home for museum-style tours, cultural field trips, oral history collaborations, and student residencies.

The puzzle

How do you turn a living, working cultural venue with a complicated history — punk, comedy legends, and now regeneration — into something that serves an eight-year-old's field trip and a high schooler's oral-history project equally well? The puzzle is figuring out which parts of this story are age-appropriate and genuinely engaging for different grade levels.

What you'll do

- Educator and program mapping — Build a working map of schools, teacher networks, arts-education programs, and youth organizations whose curricula could connect meaningfully with the Mab's history.

- Program concept development — Shape age-appropriate formats for guided tours, cultural field trips, oral-history collaborations, and short student residencies.

- Curriculum research, with AI as a complement — Look into relevant curricula, arts-education standards, and comparable school-partnership programs at other cultural venues.

- Noticing collaboration moments — Keep an eye on what teacher networks and youth-serving organizations are sharing publicly.

- Genuine conversations with educators — Approach teachers and program directors with real curiosity about their curriculum needs first.

- Concept handoff and documentation — Bring well-researched program concepts to the Mabuhay producing team.

Who this role is for

Somebody with real, demonstrable skill in at least two of the following:

- Classroom teaching, arts-education program design, or youth-program coordination experience

- Familiarity with oral-history methods or age-appropriate storytelling for young audiences

- A genuine connection to schools, teacher networks, or educational nonprofits

- Curriculum literacy — understanding what actually counts as educationally valuable

- Curious mind: you love learning about how museums, cultural sites, and educators design experiences for different age groups

- Openness to AI as a helpful complement

Why do this

- The problem matters: Cultural venues with real history rarely translate that history into experiences young people can actually access.

- The stakes are real: The programs you help shape will reach real classrooms, real teachers, and real students.

- The craft (self-challenge): You'll learn to translate a complicated, adult-coded cultural history into formats that are genuinely engaging and age-appropriate.

- The room is legendary: You're helping regenerate a venue where legends across music, comedy, poetry, and cultural experimentation performed.

- Virtual collaboration with CrowdDoing's global network.

Time commitment & structure

- Flexible, part-time, mostly asynchronous

- Ongoing commitment, renewable

- Onboarding via CrowdDoing's standard volunteer orientation

How to apply

Send a short note covering which 2-3 areas you can contribute in immediately, one school or arts program you'd want to connect with Mabuhay Gardens, and your available hours.

CrowdDoing is an equal-opportunity volunteer organization. This is an unpaid volunteer role and service-learning opportunity.