Nearly two decades in, Youth Art Exchange Executive Director Raffaella Falchi-Macias’ commitment to arts education remains as strong as ever.
Working for an arts nonprofit was not always Falchi-Macias’s career plan.
She taught for YAX while earning a master’s degree in architecture from the California College of Arts. After being laid off during the Great Recession, she returned as the program director to help rebuild the program. She climbed the ranks to deputy director before landing in the executive director position in 2020.
“I realized how much I really loved working with high school students in particular, or just young people, and exposing them to a field like design felt really empowering,” Falchi-Macias said. “It was something that I wish I had had as a young person.”
