Youth To The Front Fund 2022 “Frontliners” Announced
NEW YORK, Sept. 22, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Musical icon and philanthropist, Nile Rodgers, is celebrating his 70th birthday and the 20th anniversary of his We Are Family Foundation (WAFF) with a $1 million endowment gifted to WAFF. Rodgers’ gift is an important personal investment to ensure solidifying the longevity of WAFF and its programs for future generations.
Rodgers, Co-Founder & Chairman, WAFF stated, "My mother used to say, 'It's better to give than to receive.' I knew the best thing I could do to celebrate my 70th birthday and the 20th anniversary of WAFF was to provide a million-dollar endowment to sustain the foundation’s important work. Our Global Teen Leaders and Youth To The Front Fund “Frontliners” give us their all and this is the least I can do to continue supporting them."
Committed to fighting systemic racism, inequality and injustice, WAFF is also pleased to announce the 2022 Youth To The Front Fund “Frontliners”, representing 7 states in the USA and 15 countries on 6 continents.
WAFF created the Youth To The Front Fund (YTTFF) in 2020 to support under 30-year-old BIPOC-centered youth activists, youth-led organizations, projects, innovations and creative solutions at the forefront of fighting systemic racism, inequality and injustice. The 2022 Frontliners’ work in the USA, and around the globe, is funded through generous contributions from WAFF’s Board of Directors and its partners, SAP, Sony Music Group, and the Walton Family Foundation.
The 2022 Frontliners, aged 18 to 29, are using their creativity and infusing science, art, technology and social justice into their project design and overall implementation to collectively reimagine new possibilities and solutions that positively impact and shape future generations. Frontliners’ projects focus on: Civic & Community Engagement, Education Equity, Climate Justice, and Criminal Justice Reform.
The 2022 Youth To The Front Fund Frontliners are: Alinafe Malonje & Lerato Honde (25, Malawi); Amonge Sinxoto (20, South Africa); Anthony Sanford (26, USA); Aroe Ajoeni (22, Malaysia/Indonesia); Autumn Palen (26, USA); Brianna Nelson (26, Canada); Charliese & Chasah West (28, 31, USA); Diana Nkhoma (27, Malawi); Francis Odhiambo (24, Kenya); Gabrielle Perry (29, USA); Ghislain Irakoze (22, Rwanda); Jennifer Lee (20, USA); Joel Bervell (26, USA); Johanna Alazar (26, Eritrea); Joy Munthali (26, Malawi); Marwa Eltahir (26, Sudan/USA); Matthew Nwozaku (22, Nigeria); Meshack Otieno (28, Kenya); Miguel Angel Herrera Vivar (28, Ecuador); Nasreen Al-Amin (28, Nigeria); Nerima Makhondo (26, Kenya); Nina Vendham (24, USA); Ninel Nekay (24, USA/Jamaica); Ozgur Mehmet Gur (26, Turkey); Shawon Jackson (28, USA); Taimin Liao (18, USA/China).
About We Are Family Foundation
Co-founded by legendary musician Nile Rodgers and inspired by the power and true meaning of his song, "We Are Family", We Are Family Foundation (WAFF) is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to the visions of a global family by creating programs that promote cultural diversity while nurturing and mentoring the vision, talents and ideas of young people who are positively changing the world. Find more information wearefamilyfoundation.org @wearefamilyfdtn
Contact: Fran DeFeo
Email: frandefeopr@gmail.com
