UMG’S TASK FORCE FOR MEANINGFUL CHANGE

UMG’S TASK FORCE FOR MEANINGFUL CHANGE

A driving force for equality and social justice, the Task Force for Meaningful Change (TFMC) works to amplify and expand UMG’s current programs, devise new initiatives and support marginalized communities in the ongoing fight for equality, justice and inclusion. Our work is divided into six areas, including:

1. Aid/Charitable Giving

   We support initiatives with organizations working in areas such as: economic empowerment and business development; housing; legal services and bail; mental health services; legislative reform; physical health services; and voting resources and education.

2. Global

   Acknowledging that racism, intolerance and bias know no borders, we are identifying and adopting global policies and initiatives to address equality, bias, equity and inclusion efforts for all UMG offices and their communities around the world.

3. Internal/Institutional Change

   We examine UMG’s workforce policies and procedures, and work environment. This includes identifying areas to improve access, recruitment, advancement and retention of a diverse workforce at all levels within the company but with a focus on leadership positions and other senior-level roles.

   We work closely with UMG HR’s Diversity & Inclusion team to continue its ongoing efforts and build upon the company’s partnership with USC Annenberg’s Inclusion Initiative.

4. Legislative/Public Policy

   We pursue constructive social change by supporting public policies via: Federal, state and local legislation to challenge laws and regulations that promote bias and systemic discrimination; and voter education, registration and participation.

5. Partners

   UMG has a history of investing in, and partnering with, entrepreneurs who have grown their business out of the community, building some of the most impactful and dynamic voices in entertainment today. Working alongside our partners in their focused efforts to initiate and support change in their communities, we reap the benefit of their insights, which help us continue to grow our own efforts in the fight for justice and equality.

6. Programming/Curation

   Just as music connects people around the world, our goal is to promote dialogue and understanding through speaker fora, counseling, and educational and creative programming focused on the themes of tolerance, equality and inclusion – especially around the intersection of Black Music, art, lifestyle, fashion, technology and creators, as well as celebrating Black artists and creators, and conducting thoughtful discussions on current events.

   We will continue to expand upon UMG HR’s Diversity & Inclusion programming, including their Belonging Table town hall series about diversity and inclusion and other series bringing outside experts to address relevant topics, ranging from economic empowerment and business development, mental health and voting.

WHO WE ARE

We are a group of professionals from across UMG – including our corporate center, labels and companies around the globe.

Leadership:

Jeff Harleston, Co-Founder & Executive Co-Chair, TFMC and General Counsel and EVP of Business & Legal Affairs, UMG
Ethiopia Habtemariam, Co-Founder, TFMC
Eric Hutcherson, Executive Co-Chair, TFMC and EVP and Chief People & Inclusion Officer, UMG

Dr. Menna Demessie, Executive Director, TFMC and Senior Vice President, UMG

Members:

YOUTH TASK FORCE FOR MEANINGFUL CHANGE

Our Youth Task Force for Meaningful Change (YTFMC) is an extension of the TFMC and comprised of a group of entry-level employees from across Universal Music Group to further amplify young voices on issues of social equality and justice.

YTFMC Members:

WHAT WE DO

Drive UMG’s ongoing programs and develop new ones, including in these selected areas.

• Funding Partners in Social Change

  Both through direct funding and by matching employee contributions, we support groups working for social change.

  • Fund for Justice.

    Through UMG’s All Together Now Foundation, we are funding a range of organizations whose focus includes racial justice, criminal justice reform, legal aid and community support. UMG has provided funding for this phase of investments and will provide additional funding as the Task Force details further plans.

    In addition to our long-standing partners, we have provided grants to the following organizations in the U.S.:

    Academy for Media Arts (LA) Advancement Project California African American Breast Cancer Alliance Inc. African American Civil War Memorial & Museum African American Cultural Center African American Policy Forum African Communities Together Inc. Afro Resistance Agenda For Children Ali Forney Center Alliance for Peace Building Amber Charter Schools (NY) American Association Of University Women Inc. Americares India Foundation Anti-Recidivism Coalition Almost Home Asian Americans Advancing Justice Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies Atlanta Music Project Atlanta Public Schools Foundation for Get Our Kids Connected August Wilson African American Cultural Youth Summer Writing Camp Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico Baltimore Community Foundation BandWith Chicago Billie Holiday Theatre Black & Pink National Black Aids Institute Black Alliance for Just Immigration Black Alliance for Peace Black American Music Foundation Inc. Black Art Futures Fund Black Boys Code Black Emotional & Mental Health Collective (BEAM) Black Futures Lab Black Girls Movement BLACK GIRLS ROCK!® Black Girl Ventures Foundation Black Lives Matter via Thousand Currents Black Men Heal Black Mental Health Alliance Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame Black United Fund of Illinois Inc. Black Women & Girls Fund Baltimore Black Voters Matter Capacity Building Institute Black Women’s Health Imperative Black Youth Project Blessings In a Backpack Inc. Books Through Bars Boys & Girls Clubs Cleveland, Cleveland, OH Boys & Girls Clubs of Atlantic City, Atlantic City, NJ Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Houston, Houston, TX Boys & Girls Clubs of Long Beach, Long Beach, CA Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, Atlanta, GA Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA: Boys & Girls Clubs of Miami-Dade – Dade, Miami, FL Boys & Girls Clubs of South Alabama, Mobile, AL Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Louisiana, New Orleans, LA Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan Farmington Hills, MI Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, PA Boys & Girls Clubs of the Coastal Plain, Winterville, NC Boys & Girls Clubs of the Valley – Arizona, Phoenix, AZ Brennan Center for Justice Bronx Fire Relief Fund Cabarete Sostenible California Community Foundation Casa For Children of DC Cathy Hughes Scholarship Fund Center for American Progress Center for Native American Youth Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science Chicago CRED Inc. Chicago Public Schools Children First Fund Children of Promise, NYC Chinese For Affirmative Action Chinese Progressive Association City Year New Orleans Coalition of African Americans In the Performing Arts Code2040 Color of Change Educational Fund Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Congressional Hispanic Caucus Inc.Institute Cooperation Jackson Council on Black Health Crete Academy (LA) Crisis Text Line Decolonizing the Music Room Direct Relief DreamWakers Election Protection ElevateMeD Ember Charter Schools (NY) EMERGE Connecticut Equal Justice Initiative Esperanza United Essie Justice Group Everyone Eats Everytown for Gun Safety Families and Friends of Louisiana’s Incarcerated Children (FFLIC) Families First (Atlanta) Feeding America FeedMore WNY Feeding Florida;Feeding the polls/Migrant Kitchen Fihankra Akoma Ntoaso (FAN) Fresh Air Fund Frontline Family Fund Girls Make Beats Inc. Girls Who Listen Inc. Give Directly Global Fund for Women Greenwood Cultural Center #HashtagLunchbag Higher Heights Leadership Fund Homeboy Industries Hope for Haiti House of Ruth Housing Crisis Center Inc. (Dallas) Howard University College of Medicine iCivics International Medical Corps Jackie Robinson Foundation Jefferson County Boys & Girls Club, Pine Bluff, AR

    Jubilee Arts Kids in Need Foundation Kips Bay Boys & Girls Clubs, Bronx, NY Latino Commission on AIDS Inc. Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Law Leadership Conference Education Fund Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles Little Tokyo Center Living Legends Living Through Giving Foundation Los Angeles Boys & Girls Clubs, Los Angeles, CA Lotus House Shelter Miami Louis Armstrong Jazz Camp Loveland Foundation Lower Eastside Girls Club (New York) Madison Square Boys & Girls Clubs, New York, NY Marsha P. Johnson Institute / Social Good Fund Martha’s Table Inc. (Washington D.C.) Melanin Mommies (Pittsburgh) Meharry Medical College Mentoring in Medicine Menomini You Inc. Mental Health Coalition Mental Wealth Alliance MLK Health & Wellness Community Development Corporation Modest Needs My Block, My City, Morehouse School of Medicine My Hood, Chicago NAACP Legal Defense & Education Fund Inc. National Association of Black Journalists National Association for the Advancement of Colored People National Black Child Development Institute Inc. National Black Justice Coalition National Coalition of 100 Black Women National Coalition on Black Civic Participation National Council of Negro Women National Independent Venue Association National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform National LGBT Bar Association National Minority Aids Council National Medical Association National Museum of African American History & Culture National Urban League Inc. New York City Bar Justice Center One Tree Planted Partners In Health Pencil Foundation Phyllis Wheatley YWCA Project Home Rebuild Foundation Ron Brown Scholarship Fund Safe Haven Family Shelter Saint Paul & Minnesota Foundation Save the Music Foundation Search Homeless Houston Second Harvest Food Bank of Greater New Orleans and Acadiana Sentencing Project Sickle Cell Disease Foundation of California Silence the Shame Inc. Sista Afya Social Justice Learning Institute Society for the Analysis of African American Public Health Issues Son of a Saint (New Orleans) Southern Poverty Law Center Spread the Vote Star C Eviction Relief Stop AAPI Hate/Chinese for Affirmative Action Student National Medical Association Taller Salud The African American Breast Cancer Alliance Inc. The Anti Recidivism Coalition The Audre Lorde Project The August Wilson African American Cultural Center Youth Summer Writing Camp The Bail Project The Barack Obama Foundation The Blues Foundation The Brotherhood Sister Sol Inc. The Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts The Conscious Kid The Crisis Assistance Ministry (Charlotte) The Entertainment Industry Foundation/Colin Kaepernick Foundation/Know Your Rights Camp The Equal Justice Initiative The Fresh Air Fund The Hidden Genuis Project The Innocence Project The King Center The Leadership Conference Education Fund The Loveland Foundation The Lower Eastside Girls Club of NY The Marshall Project The Mentoring Center Oakland The Miami Foundation The National Institute of Criminal Justice Reform The Obama Foundation’s Leaders: Africa Program The Roots of Music The Salvation Army Boys & Girls Clubs of North & South Carolina, Charlotte, NC The Sentencing Project The Tamir Rice Foundation (Cleveland) The Trevor Project Tulsa Community Foundation UMOM New Day Centers (Phoenix) UN Foundation Union League Boys & Girls Clubs, Chicago, IL United Community Housing Coalition (Detroit) United Negro College Fund United Playaz UNICEF United Way of Southeast Louisiana US Caribbean Strong Vera Institute of Justice Volunteers of America – Greater New York VoteRiders VotoLatino Vox Collegiate We are RISE Inc. When We All Vote Wilderness Works Inc. Wisconsin Alliance for Women’s Health (Milwaukee Freedom Fund) Woodcraft Rangers and World Central Kitchen YMCA Youth Speaks Zora Neale Hurston Richard Wright Foundation

    Along with the following organizations around the world:

    Brazil:
    Colégio Integral Solar Meninos de Luz

    Canada:
    20 Winterbrook
    BAND Gallery
    Black Women in Motion
    The Cee Centre for Young Black Professionals
    NIA Centre for the Arts
    TAIBU Community Health Centre

    Colombia
    Fundación Bello Oriente
    Fundacion Solidaridad y Compromiso

    Ivory Coast
    Village Ki-Yi

    Kenya
    Santuri East Africa

    Mexico
    Fundación Origen – Pro Ayuda a la Mujer Origen A.C.

    Nigeria
    The R.E.A.C.H Nigeria

    Portugal
    Federação Portuguesa dos Bancos Alimentares Contra a Fome (Food Bank)

    Puerto Rico
    Ayuda Legal Puerto Rico
    ESCAPE, Centro de Fortalecimiento Familiar
    P.E.C.E.S.
    Taller Salud

    Senegal
    Give1Project

    Spain
    FESBAL (Federación Española de Bancos de Alimentos) (Food Bank)

    South Africa
    Angel Foundation for Musicians
    African Presidential Leadership Center
    National School for the Arts (Johannesburg)

    United Kingdom
    African Caribbean Leukemia Trust (ACLT)
    Decca Bursary
    Music Managers Forum Ltd
    Pickni Uniforms
    Small Green Shoots

    *This list will be updated on an ongoing basis.

  • Fund for Employee Action.

    Through our All Together Now program, UMG matches employees’ qualifying contributions to non-profit groups. Among the top recent recipients of our matching fund program are: ACLU; NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund; Black Lives Matter Fund; King Center for Nonviolent Social Change; Bail Project, Inc.; Southern Poverty Law Center; Minnesota Freedom Fund; Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law; Northside Achievement Zone; and Race Forward.

• Making Change Within UMG and the Music Community

  We work to achieve greater diversity and inclusion within our own company and community.

  • Diversifying Our Employee Population
    

    Black Label’s Black History Month speed networking event held at Capitol Records

    In order to recruit, retain and promote a more diverse workforce, we launched the UMG Diversity, Inclusion & Belonging team, which partnered with Recruitment, to lead employee diversity & inclusion efforts. Activities have included: D&I training of hiring managers with intentional education addressing unconscious bias; recruiting partnerships at Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs); Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), such as our Black Label Group, to foster community, cultural awareness and inclusion; diverse networking events, such as REVOLT, AFRO Tech & Diversity Reboot Summit; and much, much more.

    Click HERE to join our team!
  • UPLIFT Mentorship Program

    As part of our ongoing efforts to expand our diversity and inclusion programing and initiatives, UMG’s Black Label, the employee resource group celebrating Black culture, in partnership with the TFMC, unveiled the UPLIFT Mentorship Program. UPLIFT was created to foster meaningful and impactful connections within UMG’s Black community, working to build personal and professional development of entry and mid-level employees.

    Over the course of one year, mentees will participate in one-on-one mentoring, group mentoring, networking sessions and speed learning activities in addition to receiving articles, books and helpful resources to continue their personal growth.

  • Partnering with the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative.

    UMG is a founding partner of the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. Since 2017, the initiative has worked to create measurable change for the representation of women and underrepresented racial and ethnic groups across all areas of the music business.

    The Annenberg Inclusion Initiative released its first study on the music business in 2018, which provided needed insight into inclusion in the recording industry. Since then, the Initiative has released additional research exploring disparities in country and Latin genres, and illuminated the barriers facing female songwriters and producers. The Initiative has partnered with She Is The Music, to provide data on women in the music industry and insight into industry solutions. Dr. Stacy L. Smith, the Initiative’s Founder, also served on the Recording Academy Task Force for Diversity and Inclusion, whose equity-based focus has resulted in two years of increased nominations for female artists in key Grammy categories.

    On June 26th, we announced the expansion of our partnership with Annenberg to conduct new research – examining major and independent music companies, labels and publishers, digital platforms, radio and live concert companies as well as artists’ teams, focusing on managers, agents, attorneys and publicists – to determine the extent to which men and women of color are excluded from music’s leadership ranks. With this information in hand, Annenberg will issue a report, establishing goals and providing recommendations on how the music industry can address these disparities.

• Making Change Through Legislation and Law

  We work to help achieve change by actively engaging in civic affairs through civic engagement and voting participation activities.

  • Legal Volunteer Action Center.

    Organizing UMG legal staff to do pro bono legal work for social justice and criminal justice reform organizations.

  • Voter Mobilization and Education.

    We support and conduct voter education, registration and mobilization drives, including by:

    • Partnering with organizations such as When We All Vote, HeadCount, Rock the Vote, Voto Latino and I Am A Voter;

    • Creating UMG’s own USE YOUR VOICE voter resource campaign, created in partnership with the TFMC, which launched 75 days out from the 2020 U.S. general election on August 20th. Activities included:

      • #HourofAction!

        As part of our work with When We All Vote, UMG’s U.S. employees, artists and partners paused normal work activities to engage in voter education and mobilization – including outreach to friends, family and social media followers.

      • Virtual Canvassing Events.

        UMG’s °1824 college marketing division led powerful virtual vote canvassing events with DJ’s and special guests encouraging the more than 150 employees who participated to contact roughly 200,000 potential voters across the country with registration and voter information.

      • Artist Videos with Voter Education.

        In conjunction with When We All Vote, the TFMC created voter education videos featuring UMG artists such as 2 Chainz.

      • Pull Up To The Polls.

        In honor of those throughout our history who fought to win and defend our right to vote, we launched an initiative in partnership with the National Urban League and the Voto Latino Foundation to provide voters rides to the polls on Election Day.

  • Legislative Advocacy.

    We educate employees on social justice and criminal justice reform efforts and encourage our music community to advocate for priority legislation, such as the “Justice in Policing Act” (see here) and the repeal of New York’s Section 50-A (see here).

  • Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference.

    Since 2017, UMG has actively participated in the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Annual Legislative Conference both to celebrate and lead conversations that are important to the Black Community. Examples include: Events in 2017 with Senator Kamala Harris; 2018 with Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY) (including “Artists, Activism and the Criminal Justice System” with UMG’s Jeff Harleston); and 2019 with Rep. Brenda Lawrence and Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (including “What’s Going On” with former Motown Chairman & CEO Ethiopia Habtemariam).

    

    2017 CBC Reception
    From L-R: Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), Jeff Harleston, and Kevin Ross

    

    2018 Criminal Justice Reform Panel
    From L-R: Van Jones, Meek Mill, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), Dr. Michelle Scott, Dr. Michael Eric Dyson, and Jeff Harleston

    

    2018 Criminal Justice Reform Panel
    Meek Mill connecting with the audience after panel

    

    2019 CBC Reception Group
    From L-R: Danielle Belton, BJ the Chicago Kid, Ethiopia Habtemariam , Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), and Savanah Leaf

    

    EBONY: Watch the CBC 2018 Criminal Justice Reform Panel

    

    Marvin Gaye - What's Going On (Official Video 2019)

In 2020, UMG and the TFMC organized a series of special programs, discussions and opportunities to celebrate the 50th Annual Congressional Black Caucus Legislative Conference. The series of events included an interactive recruitment workshop with a competition to win interviews with senior UMG hiring executives, as well as the opportunity for college students to secure 15 year-long mentorship opportunities with a UMG executive. Other events included The Soundtrack to Change: A Discussion on Music and the Social Justice Movement hosted by Republic Records’ Action Committee; Black and Blue, a conversation on the persistent police brutality in Black and Brown communities hosted by Def Jam Forward with special guest Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY); Music Mavens, a discussion among black female senior executives across UMG with special guest Rep. Robin Kelly (IL); and The Art of Black Entrepreneurship & Brand Building, a panel hosted by IGA with special guest Rep. Yvette Clarke (NY).

Educational Programming and Constructive Dialogue

We curate compelling educational programming with notable guest speakers to promote dialogue and inclusion within the UMG community.

• Employee Town Hall Meetings with Guest Speakers

  We support the company’s ongoing series of employee Town Hall Meetings with topical speakers to engage the company in valuable dialogue about our society and current events. Speakers have included: former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on encouraging collective civic engagement; U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (NY) about what’s going on in America today and what Congress might do about it; former White House Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett about voting in 2020; and Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti on the city’s history of police and race relations, to name a few.

  In consultation with the TFMC, UMG Human Resources conducts several speaker series throughout the year, including “The Belonging Table,” a series on diversity and inclusion, and “Semicolon Sessions” – a two-part series over two weeks, including a session on mental health issues catered towards communities of color that featured a clinical therapist and two artists. Since 2019, Human Resources has held close to 50 employee events, UMG’s labels have also organized programming for employees, such as Island Records’ special Juneteenth discussion on wellness and how Black music has shaped America’s culture.

  

  From L-R: Jeff Harleston and Eric Holder

  

  Clockwise from Top Left: Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, Ethiopia Habtemariam, and Jeff Harleston

  

  Semicolon sessions - clockwise from Top Right: Amber Grimes, artists Kiana Ledé and Chaz French, and Dr. Christine Moutier

  
  

  In the UK, UMG celebrated Black History the month of October 2020 with an extensive schedule of insightful talks, panels, screenings, and much more. Topics include Afrofuturism, the history of Black Britain, the experiences of the Black LGBTQI+ community, the legacy of Island Records and much more. Produced by the UK Task Force for Meaningful Change and Universal Music’s Black Calendar Committee, which was born out of the Task Force to create insightful and explorative moments that celebrate Black culture all year round.

  
• College Speaker Series on Careers in Music

  UMG’s college marketing division, 1824, launched its UMG Master Class series in 2017 highlighting the inner workings of a career in music for minority college students, with a special focus on Historically Black Colleges and Universities. 1824 kicked off its first event at New York University with Pusha T, UMG’s SVP of A&R Steven Victor and Ebony Magazine. Since then, it’s held sessions at Howard University, Atlanta University Center – Spelman, Morehouse, Clark Atlanta and Hampton University, among others. A 2018 session at USC featured former Motown Chairman & CEO Ethiopia Habtemariam, and singer-songwriters BJ the Chicago Kid and Sebastian Kole.

  

  Pusha T looks to the youth to continue building hip hop | #MondayMotivation

  

  BJ The Chicago Kid signed to Motown because his mom approved | #MondayMotivation

  

  Bj The Chicago Kid uses church to help him write his music | #MondayMotivation
• HBCU Internship Program

  The TFMC established UMG’s Historically Black College and Universities (HBCUs) summer Internship program for HBCU students and recent graduates, an industry-first partnership with the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. Named for America’s first African American Supreme Court justice, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund is the nation’s largest organization exclusively representing the Black College community.

  Kicking off in summer of 2021, the program offers HBCU students paid internships across UMG’s labels and business units. In addition to providing financial support to defray interns’ travel and housing expenses, the internships will develop a pipeline of Black talent for future placement in permanent positions across UMG system and give Black music executives meaningful opportunities to help develop future music leaders.

• National School of the Arts (South Africa)

  One of that country’s foremost arts education institutions, National School of the Arts (NSA) is a co-educational public school that has produced some of South Africa’s finest talent across the fields of art, dance, drama and music.

  The landmark partnership includes the newly renamed “Universal Music Department,” which supports 165 students from Uganda, Zimbabwe, DRC and South Africa, and provides hands-on support from the global music company in the form of resources, classes, industry participation and internships.

National School of the Arts Launch Event

• • Bridging the Digital Divide

    To help provide “digital equity,” TFMC has teamed up with schools, districts, educational nonprofits and Boys & Girls Clubs of America throughout the U.S. to bridge the digital divide through funding for WiFi hotspots, laptops and other essential remote learning accessories for students in need.

    Undertaken with our partners Blacksmith, Billion Dollar Baby Entertainment, Dreamville, Grade A Productions, Heavy Group, Hikari Ultra, LVRN, Quality Control, Since the 80’s, South Coast Music Group, Wicked Awesome, XO and Young Money Entertainment, this initiative is proud to support students within 19 Boys & Girls club organizations, 5 School districts, & 5 Charter schools across America.

  • Amplifying Artist Voices

    The TFMC helps to distribute and amplify artists’ messages on civic engagement and voter mobilization. In this video, UMG artist Stevie Wonder urges fans to get out the vote and engage actively to help make positive change for our communities and nation.

Stevie Wonder – The Universe Is Watching Us

• Promoting Black History

  In 2021, Motown Records announced the relaunch of its groundbreaking Black Forum label in collaboration with Motown Museum. Black Forum, which was founded by Motown Corporation and Mr. Berry Gordy in 1971, is world-renowned as a label home for Black spoken-word artists. The partnership will provide a platform for a new generation of writers, thinkers and poets, sparking candid conversation to inspire the next generation of Black history makers through podcasts, community forums, digital initiatives and Motown Museum events and programs. In addition, Black Label will re-issue six of the historic albums on which its legacy was established, beginning with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Why I Oppose The War In Vietnam.

  The announcement follows Motown Records’ celebration of Dr. King’s legacy in the Fall of 2020, where the label released its recording of the 1963 Great March on Washington album digitally for the first time. In tribute to this historic event, Motown launched several digital initiatives, including a sharable video from the Great March on Washington featuring future congressman John Lewis; and long unseen footage of Coretta Scott King, Dr King’s widow, on the Ed Sullivan Show. Ethiopia Habtemariam, former Chairman & CEO of Motown Records, spoke with Elvis Mitchell – host of KCRW’s “The Treatment” – about what Dr. King’s speeches mean to her. View their conversation here.

  

  

   

  

  John Lewis March On Washington Snippet #USEYOURVOICE

  

  Coretta Scott King Introduces Martin Luther King Jr. Speech Clips on The Ed Sullivan Show

  

  Ethiopia Habtemariam On Motown, MLK and The Great March on Washington
• Partnering with Leading Cultural Institutions

  UMG partnered with London’s TATE Modern (2017) and the Brooklyn Museum (2018) on their exhibit “Soul of a Nation: Art in the Age of Black Power, 1963-1983.” The exhibition spotlighted era-defining works of painting, sculpture, photography, and performance produced during the decline of the Civil Rights Movement and the rise of Black Power. In New York, Verve Label Group created this playlist. In London, Darcus Beese, President & CEO, Island Records curated a special Music of Black Power playlist, illustrating how music was critical to this movement. You can listen to it here.

  
• Teaching Students in Local Communities about Music

  We work with local programs in our communities to teach high school students about music. In New York, for example, we have participated in career fairs hosted by the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment. Originally created through a partnership between Compton Unified School District and Capitol Music Group (CMG) at Dominguez High School in Los Angeles, the Bonus Tracks program teaches high school students about careers within the music industry through in-person seminars led by CMG executives. Bonus Tracks has since expanded to schools in Nashville (in partnership with Capitol Christian Music Group) and Atlanta (working with Quality Control).

  Bonus Tracks not only expands the students’ knowledge and professional development, but also opens doors to careers and networks to which they may not have otherwise had access. The ultimate goal is to increase opportunity and diversity in executive ranks in the music industry – and beyond. Through its work with the program, Capitol also established an annual college scholarship program for students at Dominguez High School.

For general inquiries about the Task Force for Meaningful Change, please email TFMC@umusic.com.