Warner Music Announces Social Justice Fund Grantees In Africa

The Warner Music Group / Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund (WMG/BFF SJF), Warner has launched the SJF Repertoire Fund, an eight-year $10M ($1M for Sub-Saharan Africa) initiative that allows WMG employees in participating regions to get involved by nominating local organizations for grants of $5,000-$15,000 USD. Like the Social Justice Fund, the Repertoire Fund will advance racial equity in education, arts and culture, and criminal justice reform. All organizations are led by – and focused on – historically marginalized populations.

On behalf of the WMG/BFF SJF, Warner Music South Africa has announced its first set of SJF Repertoire Fund grantee partners for Sub-Saharan Africa, which include organizations across Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, and South Africa.

“In the inaugural cycle of SJF Repertoire Fund in Sub-Saharan Africa, we were very deliberate in finding organizations not only reflective of the focus pillars but also across various countries to reflect the diversity of the continent,” says Temi Adeniji, Managing Director, Warner Music South Africa / SVP, Sub-Saharan Africa Strategy and SVP, Special Projects at WMG and also a Vice President of the WMG/BFF SJF. 

Among the South African grantees are African Leadership Academy (Africa’s only pan-African high school with a mission of developing a powerful network of young leaders who will work together to address the continent’s greatest challenges and accelerate the continent’s growth trajectory) and WeThinkCode (a software development training academy creating direct and sustainable pathways to employment for youth in South Africa).

African Leadership Academy’s CEO Bilha Ndirangu remarks, “We are grateful and excited to work with Warner Music South Africa to expand ALA’s work in the Creative Industries and in particular for our students and alumni. Thank you for enabling us to invest in the next generation of Africa’s creative leaders.”

Tinashe Chigodo, Head of Finance at WeThinkCode, added: “This grant will go a long way in supporting our mission to drive the inclusion of women and youth from underserved communities in the digital economy and will enable us to equip more young Africans with software development skills and pathway them into meaningful work opportunities so they can be drivers of tech innovation on the continent.”

The full list of grantees is as follows:

1. African Leadership Academy (South Africa)
2. African Digital Media Institute (Kenya)
3. AgroEknor Farmers Education & Empowerment Program (Nigeria)
4. ArtNg (Nigeria)
5. Edugrant (Nigeria)
6. Fair Justice Initiative (Ghana)
7. Kids Haven (South Africa)
8. Rele Arts Foundation (Nigeria)
9. The Sarz Academy Academy Foundation (Nigeria)
10. The Tag Foundation (South Africa)
11. The Tomorrow Trust (South Africa)
12. Zoma Museum (Ethiopia)
13. WeThinkCode_ (South Africa)

For more information about the Fund, please visit https://www.wmg.com/fund.