The Warner Music Group / Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund (WMG/BFF SJF) announced its first set of SJF Repertoire Fund grantee partners in the UK and Ireland. The SJF Repertoire Fund enables Warner Music UK (WMUK) and Warner Music Ireland (WMI) employees to nominate local organisations for grants of up to $15,000 each. These grants further the WMG/BFF SJF's mission of advancing racial equity through education, arts and culture, and criminal justice reform and prioritising organisations led by – and focused on – historically marginalised communities.
This new set of British and Irish grantees follows the announcement of more than 20 organisations in Sub-Saharan Africa, 11 organisations across Latin America, and 51 organisations in the United States and Canada receiving grants from the SJF Repertoire Fund in the last year, resulting from WMG employee nominations.
Austin Daboh, EVP, Atlantic Records UK; President, Black Music; and former Board of Directors Member, WMG/BFF SJF, says: "We are immensely proud to be part of this journey here at Warner Music UK. By sowing these seeds of support, we aim to help these communities and groups grow, flourish, and harmonise to the symphony of empowerment and progress."
"We are excited and deeply honoured to contribute to 18 phenomenal grassroots organisations across the UK and Ireland through the SJF Repertoire Fund," continues Daboh. "These organisations are the beating heart of some of our nation's most disadvantaged populations, persistently working to create better opportunities, inspire hope, and foster resilience."
Among the grantees is Generating Genius - Black Women in Tech: "With 50 spaces for Black Heritage women who are at university and are interested in a career in technology, this grant will go a long way towards helping our next cohort starting in January 2024. The grant will also allow us to add a much-needed new part of the programme: a Technology Innovation Project Competition. Creating Technology projects showcasing your skillset is important and often makes candidates stand out. We want to allow our students to start developing their tech portfolio and get into the habit of working on projects in their own time to continue upskilling. We are grateful to WMUK for helping us do this," said Director, Programmes and Partnerships Lead, Zindzi Sewell.
The SJF Repertoire Fund is aligned with WMG’s giving strategy to maximize global impact by leaning into the sociocultural expertise of local teams in each region.
The full list of grantees is as follows:
- Art Against Knives - UK
- Black Blossoms - UK
- Black Trans Alliance - UK
- Croydon FM CIC - UK
- Diverse Youth North Ireland - Ireland
- Exist Loudly - UK
- Generating Genius - Black Women in Tech - UK
- HAPANI - Ireland
- Healing Justice London - UK
- Manhood Academy - UK
- Power The Fight - UK
- Refugee Council - UK
- Resolve Collective - UK
- Saffron Records CIC - UK
- Seven Talent - UK
- Sistah Space - UK
- The Black Book - UK
- Young Urban Art Foundation - UK
For more information about the Fund, visit wmg.com/fund
