2023 AWARDS

HHN2L: Hip Hop Into Learning

LOUISVILLE, KY

Formed by Kentucky Elementary Teacher of the Year, NyRee Clayton-Taylor, and former producer,  Antonio Taylor, HHN2L’s mission is to use the (k)Nown (k)Nowledge (N2) of Black youth to educate and positively influence change through self-awareness and self-expression. Their mission provides a safe space for African-American students and young adults (ages 8 to 18) to develop creative and musical talents, cultivate experience in music and performing arts, and pave the path for greater creative opportunities in their lives. HHN2L does this through a series of programs utilizing hip-hop based education (HHBE) that educate students and their peers in advocacy work that changes systems for themselves and our most vulnerable populations. HHN2L students have used their voices to advocate for justice for Breonna Taylor and used their song, Crown, to pass the CROWN (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural hair) Act Ordinance in Louisville.

Through the organization’s programs and record label-style management and structure, participants are exposed to real-life operations in the music industry, preparing them for success in the field, if participants choose. HHN2L provides a pathway for participants to accumulate valuable experience and resources by granting participants legal songwriting credits and publishing rights to their work. HHN2L provides artist management, development, and public relations services to participants, granting them the necessary support to elevate and uplift their creative work in the music industry and mass media.

Mana Maoli

HONOLULU, HI

Mana Maoli is a collective of educators, artists, musicians, cultural practitioners, community organizers, and families who share a common vision of and action toward community empowerment through their 3 primary purposes: community-based education and awareness, pooling and sharing of resources, sustainability at both the environmental and economic levels, as well as at the self and community level.

Their mission statement is just 3 words: Hoʻokumu. Hoʻokele. Hoʻomana.

Hoʻokumu – Build grounding and foundation. To foster a sense of esteem, stewardship, and kuleana to the ‘aina, their communities and themselves, through grounding in the ancestral knowledge and practices of Hawaiʻi and the academic skills necessary to excel in the 21st century.

Hoʻokele – Forge direction and connections. To explore and inquire in ways that build upon their ancestral wisdom and bridge to other communities and cultures in a harmonious manner.

Hoʻomana – Provide sustenance and empowerment. To provide sustenance and empowerment for themselves and their communities by striving for high academic, cultural, social, environmental, and economic standards, thus nourishing all piko – mental, emotional, spiritual and physical.

Memphis Music Initiative

MEMPHIS, TN

Memphis Music Initiative invests in youth through transformative music engagement, creating equitable opportunities for Black and Brown youth in Memphis. MMI invests in two ways: through direct programs that connect youth to high-quality in-school, after-school, and summertime music engagement opportunities and by providing grants and capacity-building resources to grassroots and community music programs serving Black and Brown youth. These programs help strengthen the local arts ecosystem and ensure that Memphis’ young people always have access to quality arts programming regardless of their zip code. 

Using Black and brown creative liberation as a guiding principle and curricular core, MMI cultivates a thriving arts and culture ecosystem that enhances the quality of life of residents, provides critical developmental opportunities for Black and brown youth, and serves the community health and vibrancy of our region. MMI encourages young people to become creatively immersed in their past, critically engaged in the present, and more able to determine their future through the power of music and arts. MMI recognizes that a civil and just society requires a multiplicity of voices and that the development of creative thinking, expression, and liberation in our young people is one key pathway to its fulfillment.

HEAL Center for the Arts

SAINT LOUIS, MO

The inspiration for HEAL comes from the founder's experience growing up in Miami, FL, where he discovered the power of the arts to nurture his aspirations for the future. The African Heritage Cultural Arts Center was where Harvey Lockhart first discovered his love for the arts through the instruction and mentoring he received in music, art, theater, dance, and photography.

While band director at Riverview Gardens High School and Performing Arts Coordinator of Secondary Education for the district, Harvey realized the lack of professional arts training and opportunities for his students and many other young people living in low-income areas of St.Louis, MO. Recognizing the opportunity to reach more students by tapping into the fertile arts community in St. Louis, and by creating an arts center that is open to children of all ages, HEAL was created.

The Bridge Music Project

OLYMPIA, WA

The Bridge Music Project is a Thurston County-based 501(c)3 Nonprofit Organization which teaches youth how music and songwriting can be used as a tool to deal with life's challenges.

Through community and mentoring youth in song writing The Bridge Music Project equips them with tools for self-expression and understanding that they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. Their vision is to create a world where every youth is free to be their true, uncompromising self; a world where through music and self-understanding, young people can overcome any trauma to be the future leaders of tomorrow. 

The organization began as a project for youth in foster care in 2014 while founder, Bobby Williams, served as a case aid in the foster care system. Currently, The Bridge Music Project serves around 250 youth annually and has collectively reached over 2000 youth. Youth participants have experienced significant life challenges such as foster care, homeless, or incarceration. Their programs are free of charge, use a trauma-informed perspective, and are brought to youth where they already are to meet unmet community needs.

West Point School of Music

CHICAGO, IL

West Point School of Music’s mission is to engage urban youth through music instruction and performance; cultivating artistically connected, socially conscious, productive adults. The organization uses the steel drum to promote African American heritage music and to enhance the relevance of quality music education to Chicago’s Black youth.

West Point School of Music both understands the importance of music education in disadvantaged communities and the need for dedicated partner organizations to provide this service in Chicago’s underprivileged neighborhoods. Budget constraints have led many schools to suspend or eliminate arts programs entirely.

Their music instruction and performance programs include Urban Music Makers - concert band music instruction, Celebration on Steel - steel band instruction, and a professional steel drum ensemble, Epic Steel Orchestra.

El Sistema Santa Cruz/Pajaro Valley

SANTA CRUZ, CA

El Sistema Santa Cruz is a visionary movement that uses ensemble music to transform the lives of children by teaching the importance of teamwork, promoting self-confidence, and instilling the value of social responsibility. More than classic music instruction, El Sistema Santa Cruz addresses the development of executive functioning skills that are foundational building blocks for the development of cognitive and social capacities. 

They are skills such as self control, self regulation, focus and discipline, all components of academic and social success. El Sistema Santa Cruz brings free music instruction every day after school. Students are met at the end of their school day by El Sistema’ teachers and gather for a healthy snacks. The pre-orchestra students then proceed to a circuit of ensemble vocals and musical games. They learn about the orchestra by creating playable instruments and listening to guest instrumentalists. Rhythm and pitch are taught through musical games. By third grade, students start playing instruments including violins, cellos, clarinets, flutes, brass and percussion. 

Harmony Project Phoenix

PHOENIX, AZ

Harmony Project Phoenix provides children from low-income communities with free access to quality music education. Serving more than 200 students, the nonprofit organization offers various mentoring programs that help them become productive and responsible citizens. They also organize orchestras, bands, mariachis, and choirs to promote social inclusion among students.

Harmony Project harnesses the transformative power of music to increase access to higher education for underserved students by removing systemic barriers to achievement through academic and social support.

Los Cenzontles Cultural Arts Academy

SAN PABLO, CA

Considered a second home for generations of local families, Los Cenzontles provides students with a rich cultural arts foundation that develops skills, confidence, and creativity in young people, while contributing to living Mexican-American cultural art forms. Students engage in rigorous, fun, hands-on learning in traditional music, dance, folk arts and crafts, taught by master artists.

Many students join between four to seven years old and often continue until they reach adulthood. The student body is diverse, including first, second and third generation Mexican-Americans and non-Latinos. Through learning arts skills they gain confidence, perseverance, self-awareness, and collaborative skills that will serve them throughout their lives. As alumni, students remain part of the Los Cenzontles network as core staff members, working professionals, artists, donors, board members, parents, and more.

Rock to the Future

PHILADELPHIA, PA

Jessica Craft founded Rock to the Future in 2010 as a volunteer organization to support positive youth development through community-based music programs in neighborhoods that have been deprived of funding and resources. Beginning in North Philadelphia with 13 students, enrollment rapidly grew due, and Rock to the Future now serves over 500 children and teens annually through after-school, in-school, and summer programs. Rooted in equity, all of the programs are provided at no cost for students through partnerships with schools, community locations, and juvenile justice facilities. 

Rock to the Future works with resilient young people in neighborhoods affected by poverty and violence. Their programs combine exciting, student-driven music programming – like learning guitar, bass, drums, piano, music production, original songwriting, and live performance – with education, mentoring, and social services support. In safe spaces, youth build social and intellectual capital and life skills which supports high school graduation, college and trade school participation, peer relationships, and personal well-being. Through dozens of free performances each year, thousands of community members celebrate the talents and achievements of local youth. Rock to the Future’s high-quality programs are a catalyst for individual success, economic empowerment, and safe and thriving communities.