Our Latest Grant Recipient - The Music & Youth Initiative

Our mission at Music Empowers is to support initiatives that improve children�s lives. We look for organizations that exhibit a novel approach to music education, and the mechanisms to scale that process to reach large numbers of kids. �Recently, we came across such an organization in the Music & Youth Initiative (MYI) of Boston.

Unlike other after-school music education programs, MYI doesn�t work in or through schools, but is based in youth development facilities such as Boys & Girls Clubs and YMCAs.� These are places where disadvantaged youth already receive support, training, and even meals. �Within locations such as these, MYI creates and staffs Music Clubhouses, where kids receive instruments, instruction and a safe place to perform and produce music.

This past spring, I visited a Music & Youth Initiative program at a Boys & Girls Club in Allston, a neighborhood of Boston.� I sat in on an R&B class and joined students who were composing music on a computer, using software donated by Berklee College of Music. �These kids were dedicated and engaged.� I was particularly impressed by one young man who brought me to a small production studio to hear a song he�d written and recorded for his girlfriend.� His pride was evident and so was the support he was receiving, right there on the spot.�

The highlight of my visit was spending time with the clubhouse�s youth leader, a high school junior who along with one high school participant from each of the other 15 music clubhouses, was selected to help mentor and instruct the younger participants.� While these youth leaders receive a stipend of $1,000 per semester, the real benefit is the leadership experience they gain.� The youth leader with whom I spoke was serious about his responsibilities and the need to set an example for the younger participants.� He had clear and determined plans for the future, which included further education and a desire to pay it forward by improving his community.

This student�s selflessness and poise convinced me that supporting the Youth Leader Program was our way to make an impact. �As with all of the organizations the Music Empowers Foundation funds, MYI benefits the greater good and will reach a lot of kids.� But the youth leader component offers an opportunity to directly impact a group of young leaders and watch them influence a large number of younger participants.� And, given our proximity to Boston, we�d be able to see these leaders develop and then share their successes with our followers and supporters.

Both Music Empowers Foundation and the Music & Youth Initiative believe that learning to play and create music can change a young person�s life, helping them to develop self-confidence and improve their odds of academic success.�� Both organizations want to ensure that the benefits of music education are made available to as many kids as possible.�

In the end, it was a logical fit.� We look forward to celebrating Music & Youth�s successes, and we take pride in helping to build the next generation of youth leaders.