Deepening Its Commitment to Building Power, Shifting Policies and Sustaining Community-Based Organizing Led By Black and Historically Marginalized Youth Leaders, The WMG/BFF SJF Invests $1.4 Million Into Organizations Leading in Reproductive Justice, Arts & Culture, Criminal Justice Reform and More
The Warner Music Group / Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund (WMG/BFF SJF) announced today its inaugural cohort of youth-led grantee partners. The investment in the selected cohort of seven organizations will total to $1.4 million and focus on their calls for equity and community-building efforts across racial justice, LGBTQ+ rights, reproductive justice, criminal justice reform and more.
“The youth organizing field has been largely under-resourced for decades despite remarkable growth and development catalyzed by youth organizers,” said Lorelei Williams, Executive Director of the WMG/BFF SJF. “Young people have historically been at the forefront of dynamic movements to reimagine our democracy, country and world and build the power of Black and marginalized communities. As our global community continues to navigate the convergence of social, political and health crises, investing in these organizations is an opportunity to elevate young voices leading change, holistically support the longevity of their work and move us closer to dismantling systemic injustices.”
The WMG/BFF SJF works to support organizations that are helming community-centric campaigns driving sustainable shifts in equity and policy for Black and marginalized communities globally.
“The Brotherhood Sister Sol is deeply grateful for the support of the Warner Music Group / Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund,” said Khary Lazarre-White, Executive Director and Co-Founder of The Brotherhood Sister Sol. “For more than 25 years, we have been at the forefront of social justice movements – educating, organizing and training to challenge inequity and champion opportunity for all. This grant will support the political education of our members, helping them to develop their critical thinking skills and become advocates and social change makers.”
This inaugural docket of youth organizing grantee partners is composed of established and respected organizations within the youth organizing field serving intersectional communities and meeting this current moment of compounded crisis with courage, creativity, and transformative leadership. One hundred percent of the organizations are led by leaders from historically marginalized communities and 86 percent are led by women of color.
Youth-led grantee partners include:
To support a cohort of young activists across Nigeria, Kenya and the Caribbean working to make tangible change in their communities and build a stronger global children’s rights movement.
To support the expansion of programs for Fem the Future, a nonprofit founded by Atlantic Records artist and LGBTQ+ advocate Janelle Monáe, whose mission is to build a fem-forward future by creating opportunities for under-resourced girls and non-binary youth of color in music, the arts and education.
To support capacity-building for a cohort of nationally recognized Black-led youth organizing groups via FYCO’s GenPower Labs program, which provides sub-grants, training and technical assistance with a long-term agenda that shifts policies to transform material conditions for Black working-class communities.
To support the expansion of SPARK’s Speak Justice Take Action (SJTA) programming and FYRE Camp, which provides leadership development for young LGBTQ+ organizers of color and their reproductive justice organizing and advocacy.
To support the organization’s nationally recognized programming focused on providing holistic leadership development, education, and social justice organizing programs advancing racial justice, educational equity, criminal justice reform, and gender equity.
To support general operations for URGE, the only youth-led national reproductive justice organization in the U.S., anchored in community organizing, civic engagement, policy advocacy, movement building, and narrative change.
- Youth Organizing & Culture Change Fund (YOCCF)
To support YOCCF, a collaborative fund launched by the Ford Foundation and Kornfeld Foundation convening youth organizers, artists, culture strategists, and creatives to build local power and win change for communities of color.
To learn more about the Fund, please visit https://www.wmg.com/fund.
