Staff Spotlight: Jackie Mitra Community Engagement Programs Manager

When Jackie Mitra stepped in to help the Sangamon Valley Youth Symphony through an unexpected transition in December 2018, she figured it would be about six months. Seven years later, she's still here — and she wouldn't have it any other way.

"If you had told me in December of 2018 that it would be seven years," she laughs, "I hope that I would have liked that."

As the ISO's Community Engagement Programs Manager, Jackie oversees the full arc of the organization's youth and education programming — from the youngest beginners drawing a bow across a string for the first time, to students graduating from the Symphony Orchestra after a decade of growth. It's a role that draws deeply on her background in a perhaps unexpected field.

From Counseling to Concert Halls

Jackie holds a graduate degree in counseling and spent twenty years working with youth and families in nonprofits before she and her family relocated to Springfield in 2015. She remains a licensed therapist to this day. When her daughter joined the youth orchestra program that year, Jackie became embedded in that community as a parent and volunteer — and when a critical need arose within the Sangamon Valley Youth Symphony, she stepped in to help shepherd the organization through its merger with the ISO. That process, completed July 1, 2020, took longer than anticipated — and then a global pandemic arrived just as the ink was drying.

"It was a very interesting time for all of us," she says with characteristic understatement. Through 2020 and 2021, Jackie navigated ever-shifting restrictions, pivoting constantly to keep programming alive while keeping students and families safe. "I was always looking at all of the restrictions, all of the things we needed to do to make sure we were still able to provide a program, but also keep everyone safe."

The Business of Belonging

Jackie is quick to clarify her role: "I always tell people — I'm the business one. I do the business side of things." But what she describes is far more than administration. It's relationship-building on every scale, from a one-on-one conversation with a struggling violinist to advocacy at the state level for arts funding.

Removing barriers to participation is central to her work. She points to the absence of strings instruction in Springfield schools as one of the most significant obstacles families face. The ISO's in-school classes address this directly, bringing string education to students who otherwise might never encounter it. Financial assistance is equally important: this year, for the first time, the organization achieved a milestone Jackie has long worked toward — a full suite of tuition assistance, instrument assistance, and private lesson assistance, available to students from second grade through twelfth.

"It's an extremely affordable program," she says, "and we have ways to make sure that not being able to pay isn't a barrier."

Beyond costs and logistics, Jackie thinks about visibility and access in broader terms. The ISO's Concerts for Kids brings thousands of students to their very first orchestral concert — many of whom will never play an instrument but who leave, she hopes, with something lasting. She brings a community tent to the Levitt AMP Festival with instrument petting zoos. She takes professional musicians into classrooms through Music Matters! She serves on the board of the Illinois Council of Orchestras, where she works to amplify the perspective of central Illinois — south of where "a larger bulk of things" tend to happen in the orchestral world.

"From the micro to the macro," she says, "it's all important. My community is the girl standing in front of me, and sometimes it's a group of people at a conference."

Stories That Stay With You

Ask Jackie about a program moment she returns to, and she'll tell you two.

The first is a young violinist who came to her in tears, ready to quit. Her private lesson teacher had moved away, she was struggling in her ensemble, and the combination felt like too much. Jackie listened, asked what she needed, and simply said: try one more teacher. Give it a few weeks.

"A few weeks later, she came in smiling, laughing." Six years on, that same student is thriving in the Symphony Orchestra, surrounded by friends. "I remember how close she was to not doing it. And I can't imagine her not being there."

The second story involves a young violinist who arrived in Springfield with her mother after leaving Ukraine due to the war. Someone reached out to ask if there was a place for her in the program. There was.

"Getting her connected with a private lesson teacher, seeing her make friends, adjusting, being here in Springfield — I can't explain how rewarding it is to see her have a place and know that we're here for her."

A Vision for What's Next

When asked what she'd most want to expand, Jackie's answer is characteristically ambitious and grounded. "A pie-in-the-sky goal — but one I would love to see happen — is having the number of instructors we need to continue growing, and making it available to anyone in our area who wants it. We'll take care of the financial part if they can't. We're doing what we can every day with what we have, and we'll continue to grow like that."

And to the broader Springfield community? She offers something close to a mission statement: "We're making sure that kids have the opportunity, from kindergarten on, to be inspired, to experience the significance of orchestral music. Music is a thread that connects all of us. It's a universal language that transcends status, age, any differences we may have — and our orchestra is the vehicle for that."

She pauses. "We're very fortunate to have the ISO here. And I want to make sure as many young people as possible have the opportunity to experience it."

When she's not advocating for the next generation of musicians, Jackie enjoys nature photography and taking on ambitious DIY home projects.