The Warner Music Group / Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund (WMG/BFF SJF) 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, and 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 Nigerian grantees are The Sarz Academy (an NGO founded by Osabuohien Osaretin – aka Sarz – to help creatives thrive in the entertainment business, especially emerging producers and songwriters), Rele Arts Foundation (the non-profit initiative for Rele Gallery that aims to engage and drive both the practice and reception of contemporary art in Nigeria, while exploring the role of art as a tool for social change and positive impact) and AgroEknor Farmers Education & Empowerment Program (the non-profit arm of AgroEknor established to support the development in the smallholder farmers’ communities in Northern Nigeria by providing smallholder farmers with education, land, access to capital and transaction support in order to reduce the barrier to entry for building sustainable small-scale farm enterprises).
Opeyemi Iredumare, a Founding Trustee at The Sarz Academy Foundation expressed his gratitude for the grant: “We are happy to have received this grant from the Warner Music Group/Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund’s SJF Repertoire Fund to advance our investment in developing creatives in Africa, especially to support in building an enabling environment that creates opportunities and access for Nigerian producers and artists. The grant will also allow us to further our goal of investment in people as a path to developing the Nigerian music industry through education and empowerment.”