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First Verse, Next Verse, Last Verse: funder walkthrough

Small City Enterprises

One connected journey that uses music to teach how economic systems work.

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The idea

Understand the system so you can choose your position

Young people are already inside systems: school, custody, family, money. This program teaches how those systems actually work, using music they’re already making as the way in.

  • Music is the language, not the destination
  • The goal is informed decision-makers
  • Creative work is never graded, corrected or used as a behavioral flag

One journey · three stages

First Verse → Next Verse → Last Verse

Entry point

Custody or program entry

Lyric writing and discussion build economic vocabulary and self-awareness.

Financial Insight through Restorative Storytelling

Entry point

Reentry, community, transitional housing

Recording, production, budgeting and a real release plan.

Navigating Economics through Expressive Transformation

Entry point

Community publishing platform

Release finished work, build a public portfolio, stay connected to mentors.

Your verse doesn’t end here. For review

The same relationship and Four Factors framework carry from stage to stage Anyone can start at any stage

The framework · Small Theory

Every system runs on four factors

  • Land Access & space

    Where creation happens. Where do I have access? A block, a classroom, a studio, a platform.

  • Labor Effort & skill

    What you contribute. What do I bring that’s mine? Writing, rapping, beat-making, mediating, hustling.

  • Capital Tools & resources

    What amplifies effort. What tools make my effort go further? A phone, a studio, a mentor, this program.

  • Entrepreneurship Decision-making & control

    Who controls direction. Who is deciding the direction, me or someone else?

Who it serves

System-impacted young people, ages 14–25

Justice-involved or formerly incarcerated young people, and participants in music, arts or reentry programs, with little or no prior economics or business education.

Where it runs

  • Juvenile halls and probation camps
  • Reentry and transitional housing programs
  • Schools and alternative education
  • Community centers and youth development programs

Delivered by Credible Messengers or facilitators with equivalent lived-experience qualifications.

Inside a session

Half of every session is creation

  1. Learning objective posted
  2. Essential question 2 min
  3. Icebreaker 10 min
  4. Reflection 15 min
  5. Creative exercise 15 min
  6. Music application 20 min
  7. Discussion 15 min
  8. Production time 60–90 min
  9. Peer feedback 10 min
  10. Journaling 10 min
  11. Exit ticket 5 min
  12. Facilitator notes after

The 12-week arc

Foundation, application, transition

  1. First Verse · FoundationYou are already in the system
  2. Land: where creation happens
  3. Labor: what you contribute
  4. Four Factors mapMilestone
  5. First Verse · ApplicationCapital: what amplifies effort
  6. Entrepreneurship: who controls direction
  7. When one factor is missing
  8. First Verse BlueprintMilestone
  9. Next Verse · TransitionMicro vs. macro
  10. Budgeting the bag
  11. Building a release plan
  12. Showcase & releaseMilestone

Continuity of relationship

The same mentor from custody into community

  1. CustodyFirst Verse begins inside the facility or at program entry.
  2. TransitionSame facilitator, same language, same structure as release approaches.
  3. CommunityNext Verse continues in reentry or transitional housing.
  4. Ongoing connectionLast Verse keeps work, mentors and opportunity within reach.

What participants make

From one bar to a released single

  1. BarWeek 1 · 4 lines from real life
  2. VerseWeek 2 · a place, through Land
  3. HookWeek 3 · “I’m the one who…”
  4. Full song draftWeek 4 · recorded rough cut
  5. Mixed songWeek 8 · own beat, own verses
  6. Released singleWeek 12 · with a release plan

Plus two personal blueprints, a budget and a release plan: a full portfolio by week 12.

Evaluation approach

Documented from session one

Program methods. Outcome figures will be reported as cohorts complete.

  1. Pre-assessmentSession 1 · 5–7 self-rated questions
  2. Every sessionAttendance log + non-clinical case note
  3. MilestonesCheck-ins at weeks 4, 8 and 12
  4. Post-assessmentWeek 12 · same questions + Four Factors check
  5. Monthly summaryTo the referring agency or facility

Tracked

Enrollment

Who started, and where they entered.

Tracked

Week 4 retention

Names all four factors; one recorded song structure.

Tracked

Week 8 retention

First Verse Blueprint; one fully mixed song.

Tracked

Week 12 completion

Next Verse Blueprint, release-ready single, budget.

Where this fits

Small Theory, applied with young people

Small City Enterprises builds on Small Theory, an economics framework organized around Land, Labor, Capital and Entrepreneurship. First Verse, Next Verse and Last Verse put that framework into a classroom, a studio and a publishing platform. For review

  1. Land

    Find where you have access.

  2. Labor

    Name what you contribute.

  3. Capital

    Use tools that amplify the work.

  4. Entrepreneurship

    Decide the direction and own the outcome.

Black-and-white portrait of the founder in a knit beanie and dark T-shirt, looking down at his phone.

Founder

Floyd Howard Wright II

A former youth offender who spent years incarcerated, Floyd found in music the outlet that opened doors on the other side of the gates. That path led him to build First Verse and Next Verse.

The ask

Help put a studio, a mentor and a plan in front of young people

[Funding request: amount, timeframe and what it covers]

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Small City Enterprises · Program model & evaluation details