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Introduction brief for Joel McKay Smith / Rick Hernandez and Tim Cooley

Eden Arts × Social Good Software

A partnership to help museums and cultural organizations put emerging technology to meaningful use, and to prepare a new generation of professionals to design, implement, and sustain that work.
Nov 13, 2026IMLS FY2027 museum grants due (3 proposals)
Nov 29, 2026Cities Deliver Round 1: eligibility screen + short video
Next cycleIf Nov 13 is too tight, build toward next year's IMLS round
The ask: an introduction to Rick Hernandez and Tim Cooley to explore a partnership between Eden Arts and Social Good Software on federal and foundation funding. The three IMLS proposals are largely drafted; we want to learn where Social Good Software's expertise and relationships can strengthen them. This is a potential long-term collaboration with several possible starting points.
Who Eden is

Eden Arts & Immersive Media Festival is a Utah-based 501(c)(3) joining artistic excellence, immersive technology, and workforce development.

Institute of the Future is a creative-leadership and career-pathways program for emerging professionals ages 18 to 27: hands-on projects, mentorship, and industry partners for an AI-shaped creative economy.

Julia Levitan, Founder & CEO
  • Arts entrepreneur, producer, and cultural strategist with nearly two decades building businesses and developing talent.
  • Cadenza Artists International (co-founder, 2010): management, booking, and touring, with a network of nearly 3,000 orchestras and presenting venues.
  • iCadenza (co-founder): arts career-development curriculum licensed to Rice University and about a dozen other institutions.
What Eden brings to museum partners
  • Designs the program and learning experience
  • Recruits and coordinates cultural and education partners
  • Assembles immersive-production and experience-design expertise
  • Produces convenings that share results with the field
Why the fit works

Social Good Software knows the systems museums run on: ticketing, membership, visitor services, operations. Eden brings creative program development, arts-industry relationships, and education tied to professional practice. Together: technology paired with the people, training, and institutional support to keep it useful.

Technology partnerScope feasible projects; build, integrate, test
Museum networkRecruit museums, zoos, aquariums, gardens
Workforce partnerShape curriculum, mentor, placements

Rick's path through community college, museum technology, and entrepreneurship is a strong example of the careers this work could make more accessible.

Beyond grants: Eden as program and training partner for Social Good Software clients; Social Good Software contributing technology expertise to Eden's programs and festival.

Next step

An initial conversation to see which opportunities fit Rick's and Tim's interests. Eden can share the IMLS drafts right away.

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Funding opportunities and next steps

01
IMLS 21st Century Museum Professionals
Immersive Futures: Technology and AI Workforce Pathway

Two years, museum-led with Eden. A new pathway into museum careers for 40 emerging professionals (18 to 27): museum tech, immersive media, responsible AI, a six-week paid fellowship, and portfolio projects. Engages 60 more museum professionals as mentors. Open-access curriculum.

02
IMLS National Leadership Grants for Museums
American Museum Innovation Laboratory

A replicable model taking museums from a learning or engagement need to a tested technology solution. Lead museum plus Eden, 8 to 10 museums and technical collaborators. Open toolkit, case studies, evaluation resources, two national convenings.

03
IMLS Museums Empowered
Digital Futures: Human-Centered Technology Capacity

Two-year staff development for a partner museum: needs assessment, two or three applied projects, a Responsible Technology & Immersive Practice Playbook, and train-the-trainer structure.

04
Rockefeller Foundation × OpenAI Foundation
Cities Deliver: AI Solutions for Public Services

$50M initiative, grants of $500,000 to $2M. Our fit: Economic Mobility, an Institute of the Future pathway using AI to connect unemployed or underemployed young adults to skills, training, and creative and cultural-tech jobs. Eden as nonprofit lead, a committed city partner, Social Good Software as technology and workforce partner.

Why Rick and Tim
  • Winners of the Morgan Stanley Venture Award, with a model built around software efficacy across cultural attractions and museums.
  • Tim vetted 1,200 to 1,500 startups with Park City Angels; his partner wrote the pitch book and primer.
  • Split time between New York and their Holiday, Utah office.
Where we need help now
  • IMLS (due Friday, Nov 13): each proposal needs at least one museum partner. Social Good Software's museum network is the fastest path.
  • Rockefeller / Cities Deliver: Round 1 due Nov 29, not urgent but time-bound.
  • Supplier relationship: Eden as program and training provider to Social Good Software clients, and the reverse.
Julia's full brief (Google Doc)Eden overview deck (PDF)
Source: Julia Levitan, Eden Arts