The Warner Music Group / Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund (WMG/BFF SJF) announces additional grant recipients in the U.S. and Canada through its SJF Repertoire Fund, a ten-year $10 million initiative that allows WMG employees in participating regions to nominate local organizations for grants of up to $15,000. This new set of grantees includes 51 organizations based in 14 states and three Canadian provinces and follows the announcement of more than 20 Repertoire Fund partners in Sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Ethiopia and South Africa) and Latin America (Brazil, Mexico and Colombia). These grants further the Fund’s mission of advancing racial equity through education, arts and culture, and criminal justice reform, and prioritizing organizations led by – and focused on – historically marginalized populations.
“In the inaugural cycle of the SJF Repertoire Fund in the United States and Canada, we were thrilled to see our people at WMG rise to the opportunity and share the amazing organizations creating sustainable change in their communities,” said Dr. Maurice A. Stinnett, Global Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at WMG and a member of the WMG/BFF SJF Board of Directors.
Among the grantees is Brothers, Sons, Selves coalition in Los Angeles: “Our coalition’s mission is to end the criminalization of bois/boys and young men of color, and this grant from the SJF Repertoire Fund will help us to expand our work building an intersectional movement of youth leaders who are agents of change for our communities and our public policies,” said Jelani Hendrix, Coalition Manager of the BSS coalition.
Saving Our Daughters is a nonprofit supporting adolescent girls of color to build confidence and community through the arts. Curtis Benjamin, SOD’s Chief Executive Officer, expressed his gratitude: “Our organization is truly honored and humbled to have received this grant from the SJF Repertoire Fund, which will help our girls navigate positive intersections, build self-esteem, and explore racial identity and representation through the arts, entertainment, and virtual mentoring.”
“It’s been exciting to partner with the Warner Music Group team to make tangible change in the markets where WMG has a significant presence,” said Lorelei Williams, Executive Director of the WMG/BFF SJF. “In the face of rising threats to marginalized communities, we are proud to partner with frontline organizations that are leading the charge for equity and justice.”
Full list of grantees are as follows:
- ADVANCE, Canada’s Black Music Business Collective
- Agape Connection
- Alpha Kappa Alpha, Sorority, Incorporated – Alpha Delta Omega Chapter
- Art Start
- Black Art in America Foundation
- Black Women Lead
- Boys & Girls Club of Metro Los Angeles
- Brothers Sons Selves Coalition
- Building Beats
- Carrefour jeunesse-emploi de Côte-des-Neiges
- CREATOR FORCE
- Education Through Music
- Esperanza Community Housing Corporation
- Eternal Seeds
- Free Hearts
- Free Root Operation
- Jawonio
- Ka Ni Kanichihk – Indigenous Youth Land Back Camp
- Leading By Example
- Make Music Matter
- Minority Millennials
- Music and the Brain
- National CARES Mentoring Movement
- No Exceptions Prison Collective
- No Label Academy
- Nollie Jenkins Family Center
- Partakers Empowerment Program
- Project People Foundation
- Project Remix Ventures
- Pull Up Neighbor
- RYSE Creative Village
- Saving Our Daughters
- Self Help Graphics & Art
- Southerners on New Ground (SONG)
- Sphinx Organization
- Stoked
- The Equity Alliance
- The First 72+
- The Ghetto Film School, Inc.
- The Koffler Centre of the Arts
- The Living Legends Foundation Inc.
- The Lotus House
- The Protégé Project for Self-Defense
- The Sidewalk Project
- Toronto Council Fire Native Cultural Centre
- Urban Comfort Foods Foundation
- White Plains Youth Bureau
- Wisdomania Foundation
- Women of Substance & Men of Honor
- Wright House of Fashion
- Youth Represent
For more information about the Fund, please visit https://www.wmg.com/fund.
