New investments focus on organizations that leverage music to drive social change
NEW YORK – August 27, 2026: The Warner Music Group / Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund (WMG/BFF SJF) today announced its first slate of 2026 grantees – a docket that includes 17 organizations and an investment of almost $6 million.
Since its launch in 2020, the $100 million fund has committed more than $52 million to organizations that focus on criminal justice reform, education, and arts and culture to help advance equity.
This latest docket includes six new grantees, with a focus on organizations using music as a tool to drive social progress. First-time grantees include Atlanta Music Project, which provides tuition-free music training, performance opportunities, and college and career preparation to students in under-resourced Atlanta neighborhoods; Brooklyn Youth Sports Club’s VOICES (Vibrations Of Inner-City Excellence and Success), which helps Black and Latino youth express themselves through songwriting, performing, and sound engineering; Classical Pride, a music festival celebrating LGBTQAI+ composers and musicians across classical music; and Generator, the music development organization that ensures that artists, talent, and creative professionals across the North of England have the opportunities, connections, and support to build sustainable careers.
The fund also remains committed to the pursuit of social justice through education. Over the next five years, it will support the creation and maintenance of 75 new prison libraries in the United States through new grantee Freedom Reads. The fund will also provide education to voters in the criminal legal system through another new grantee, Global Black Economic Forum, which works toward economic freedom for Black and marginalized communities worldwide through leadership development, conferences and summits, policy advocacy, and litigation.
Len Blavatnik said: “We are honored to help talented people from all backgrounds turn potential into achievement.”
Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl said: “Music has the power to help drive real societal change. We’re proud to support these organizations as they work to connect, heal, transform, and create important opportunities.”
Yrthya Dinzey-Flores, SVP of People, Engagement, and Culture at WMG and the WMG/BFF SJF’s President, said: “We are continuously evolving and sharpening our grantmaking strategy, so we can best help these phenomenal organizations work to create a lasting, measurable impact in our communities.”
Music-Focused Grantees (new grantees noted with **):
- **Atlanta Music Project provides tuition-free music training, performance opportunities, and college and career preparation to students in under-resourced Atlanta neighborhoods
- Black Lives in Music uses data and insights to combat racism, campaign for equity, and empower Black, Asian, and ethnically diverse musicians to realize their aspirations in the UK music industry
- **Brooklyn Youth Sports Club’s VOICES (Vibrations Of Inner-City Excellence and Success) empowers Black and Latino youth to express themselves through songwriting, performing, and sound engineering
- **Classical Pride celebrates LGBTQAI+ composers and musicians across classical music through an international music festival
- **Generator ensures artists, talent, and creative professionals across the North of England have the opportunities, connections, and support to build sustainable careers
- Girls Make Beats provides music technology education, leadership development, and mentorship to girls ages 5 to 17
- The Hip Hop Museum celebrates hip hop culture and history, to preserve its legacy and inspire future generations
- Jazz Power Initiative offers free and low-cost opportunities for youth from ages 6 to 18 to immerse themselves in classic jazz repertoire through voice, piano, dance, and acting
Additional Grantees (new grantees noted with **):
- African Leadership Academy develops a powerful network of young leaders who work together to help accelerate Africa’s growth trajectory
- Civil Rights Corps challenges systemic injustice through civil rights litigation that liberates people from illegal jailing and wins compensation for the most vulnerable people in our society
- **Freedom Reads installs Freedom Libraries in the center of prison cellblocks to inspire conversation, education, imagination, and community
- JULIAN works to end caste systems in America through community organizing, policy change, and legal advocacy
- The Marshall Project seeks to create and sustain a more fair, effective, transparent, and humane justice system in the United States through journalism
- SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW!, Inc. advances reproductive justice through grassroots organizing, advocacy, leadership development, and movement-building across Georgia and the U.S. South
- StopWatch uses research, litigation, and lived experiences to advocate for effective public safety practices
- Caribbean Cultural Center African Diaspora Institute is celebrating five decades of advancing equity and racial justice for African descendant communities through arts, culture, and education
- **Global Black Economic Forum advances economic freedom for Black and marginalized communities worldwide through leadership development, conferences and summits, and policy advocacy and litigation
To learn more about the Fund, please visit wmg.com/fund.
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About The Fund
The Warner Music Group/Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund advances racial justice at the intersection of culture and systems change. The Fund invests in organizations around the globe that build more just and equitable communities and create real change in the lives of historically underserved and marginalized people, principally Black populations. Its investments focus on education, arts and culture, and criminal justice reform, with the belief that work in these areas will aid in dismantling structural racism and advancing equity and justice for all people. Since the Fund’s launch in June 2020, it has committed over $52M to more than 50 organizations on the frontlines of change.
About the Blavatnik Family Foundation
The Blavatnik Family Foundation supports world-renowned educational, scientific, cultural, and charitable institutions. Led by Len Blavatnik, founder of Access Industries, the Foundation advances and promotes innovation, discovery, and creativity to benefit the whole of society. To date, the Foundation has contributed more than $1.5 billion to over 250 organizations across the globe.
About Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group (WMG) brings together artists, songwriters, entrepreneurs, and technology that are moving entertainment culture across the globe. WMG’s Recorded Music division includes renowned labels such as 10K Projects, 300 Entertainment, Asylum, Atlantic, Big Beat, EastWest, Elektra, Erato, Fueled By Ramen, Nonesuch, Parlophone, Reprise, Rhino, Roadrunner, Sire, Spinnin’, Warner Records, Warner Classics, and Warner Records Nashville. WMG’s music publishing arm, Warner Chappell Music, has a catalog of over one million copyrights spanning every musical genre, from the standards of the Great American Songbook to the biggest hits of the 21st century. Warner Music Group is also home to ADA, which supports the independent community, as well as artist services division WMX. Follow WMG on Instagram, X, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
Media Contact:
Hannah Karp
Hannah.Karp@wmg.com