PFCF BOARD MEMBERS PORTAL

This page is destined to share key information about PFCF with our board members, upcoming events, program and financial and data, annual reports, brochures, contact information of the PFCF board members and staff as well as program stories…

37 Programs

26 countries & territories

130 communities served

60,000+ annual beneficiaries

SAVE THE DATE:

UPCOMING EVENTS

February 18, 2026 – Belly Up, Aspen, CO
April 11, 2026 – Impact Awards, Rubell Museum, Miami, FL. > Access Impact Awards Page
November – Season Kick-Off Dinner (TBD) 

BOARD MEETINGS

January 20, 2026 – Q1 Board Meeting & Retreat
June 9, 2026 – Q2 Meeting, 12-1 pm EST
September 15, 2026 – Q3 Meeting, 12-1 PM EST
December 15, 2026 – Q4 Meeting, 12-1pm EST

DONOR TRIPS

April 14, 2026 – Jordan
End of May/June – Guatemala
Nov/Dec 2026 – Sierra Leone

 

Board Roaster

PFCF Brochure

Staff Roaster

+Documents

Our core values:

Unite the world through music and creative expression

Music is a universal language that transcends borders and can unite the world. PFCF brings out the power of music and the arts inherently embedded into each community where we work to engage youth, families, and bring communities at-large together in celebration of diverse cultures and identities.

The more than 130 communities where PFCF operates each possess great cultural wealth that often stands in stark contrast to local economic disparities and socio-ethnic marginalization. We identify local master musicians and cultural actors, more than 1,100 changemakers in our global family, who leverage this wealth to engage local youth through their own cultures and reinforce positive senses of identity and community.

Drive unparalleled social impact

Social impact stands at the heart of PFCF’s work around the world. We see music and culture as the most powerful resources to bring communities together and solve the world’s greatest challenges.

Bringing youth into safe spaces amidst violence and conflict in Ukraine, Guatemala, South Africa, and the United States. Combatting child marriage in Nepal. Fighting extreme desertification and climate change in the Sahara Desert of Morocco. Addressing refugee and migration crises in Uganda, Jordan, and Guatemala. Providing clean water in Mali. Each PFCF program and each particular community has its own unique challenges and our local leaders catalyze positive change.

Meet urgent challenges with rapid response

PFCF’s model starts with listening. This often results in understanding issues like hunger or conflict or natural disasters have arisen as urgent challenges our communities face. Our team is designed to act quickly and mobilize resources so that we can address food security affecting 200,000 South Sudanese refugees in Uganda, or engage and train mentors as art therapists for survivors of conflict or human trafficking in multiple countries, or lead emergency relief efforts in Brazil, Mali, and Nepal when catastrophe has stricken.

Build and lead coalitions across the globe

PFCF’s greatest strength is bringing people together through music and culture to create change. Across five continents, we’ve united more than 200 government and non-profit partners, each essential to the operation and impact of our programs around the world. From local municipalities in dozens of communities to international embassies and global NGOs, this coalition of change makers across 27 countries and territories mobilizes more than $15,000,000 to affect positive change within our PFCF ecosystem.

REVENUE
2024

$3,053,228

EXPENSES
2024

$3,630,160

See our latest 990 (2024)
Detailed financial Data
Latest Impact report

Latest Stories:

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Watch or download our latest video overview

PFCF PROGRAMS MAP

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GIVE BY CHECK OR WIRE

You can mail your checks at:

Playing For Change Foundation,

8424 Santa Monica Blvd, Suite A, #761, West Hollywood, CA 90069 – USA.

If you wish to give via Wire transfer, give stock or assets please email us at contact@playingforchange.org

The Bizung School of Music and Dance in northern Ghana takes the ancestral tradition of the Bizung “talking drum” to engage youth with cultural and music activities, which are otherwise not readily accessible in the urban community of Tamale. Programming includes traditional music, dance, as well as modern blues music and even an in-house studio for youth to record and learn new technological skills. The Bizung School reaches 90 youth per week.

Highlight: Promoting Identity – Performing traditional Bizung music for the tribal king as recently as PFC Day 2019.

>Learn more

Programa Musical Bogando in Quibdó, in the Choco region of Colombia, on the Western side of the country and is the result of a partnership between Fundación Piés Descalzos and Playing For Change Foundation aiming at harnessing the power of music as a catalyst for integral growth and positive change in the community.

>Learn more

In 2022,Playing For Change Foundation initiated a partnership with La Escuelita del Ritmo, a music school located in Portobelo, on the Caribbean coast of Panama and dedicated to using music as a tool for inclusion and social change. La Escuelita, created 12 years ago by music lover and philanthropist Gladys Palmera, transmits and preserves an intangible Afro-Caribbean cultural heritage.

>Learn more

Wicahpi Olowan Music Program Located on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, USA, this dynamic music program creates new opportunities through music for Oglala Lakota youth in the region. Collaborating with local organization First Peoples Fund, PFCF has helped establish the Wicahpi Olowan (WO) music studio at the Oglala Lakota Artspace (OLA), which has already produced new music from local youth and musicians.

>Learn more

L’Ecole de Musique de Kirina in the rural community of Kirina in southern Mali was founded to use cultural heritage to change the lives of local youth. Many youth engage in the dangerous and even fatal practice of gold mining, and the high school graduation rates as well are very poor. Traditional music, dance, language lessons, and even gardening are offered at the program. It is the only cultural and youth organization in Kirina. L’Ecole reaches up to 100 youth per week.

Highlight: Gender Development – Weekly dance class with up to 100 girls. These activities for girls would otherwise not exist.

>Learn more

The Joudour Sahara Music Program in the small town of M’hamid el Ghizlane in southeastern Morocco serves as the only access point locally for youth to express themselves creatively. Joudour Sahara focuses on traditional music and dance from several diverse ethnic tribal groups who settled in the oasis of M’hamid from different corners of the Sahara desert centuries ago. The program also engages youth through blues music, dance, and community events. Joudour Sahara reaches 90 youth per week.

Highlight: Cultural Preservation – Preserving five ancestral distinct tribal music heritages, with previous support from the U.S. Embassy in Rabat through the Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation.

>Learn more

The Ubuntu Music Program in the capital of Kigali and the community of Masaka targets at-risk youth risk inside two elementary and high schools. Traditional drumming, dance and modern blues music, as well as sports are offered to students. Cultural activities for youth from the communities where the Ubuntu Music Program operates are not otherwise accessible. “Ubuntu” itself means “humanity towards others,” and the Ubuntu philosophy can be summed up as “I am because we are”. This program reaches 150 youth per week.

Highlight: Promoting Social Development and Youth Engagement – Providing otherwise inaccessible cultural and sports activities to youth.

>Learn more

The Imvula Music Program in the Gugulethu and townships surrounding Cape Town operates inside 10 elementary and high schools in some of the poorest communities in the Cape Town region. African styles of music and modern blues music are offered to local students. In the face of extreme inequality, the Imvula program ensures that youth from the most marginalized communities have access to express themselves creatively. Cultural activities would otherwise not be available to them. The Imvula program reaches 300 youth per week.

Highlight: Social Development – Fighting despondency and instilling hope in youth from impoverished neighborhoods.

>Learn more

The Mirpur Music Program , located in the Mirpur slums within the larger municipality of Dhaka, offers free music programming to the poorest youth. Some locals live on as little as $50 / month. Poverty, illiteracy, and malnutrition are devastating locally. Albeit a small team locally, this program provides regular programming to over 900 youth across several elementary schools locally. Musicalization, rhythm exercises, and traditional songs are offered.

Highlight: Youth Engagement – Without the Mirpur program, these youth would not have access to music and dance activities.

>Learn more

The Cajuru Music Program in Cajuru, Brazil drives youth development and social cohesion in the suburb of the larger urban center of Curitiba, just a few miles away. The program’s leaders use music as a tool for education to reach local youth, instilling self-confidence, providing structured and supervised activities, and promoting a larger sense of community. The program reaches 60 youth per week.

Highlight: Youth Engagement – In a high-density community, the Khlong Toey program is the only local program that offers free music lessons to children from the poorest households.

>Learn more

The PFC Patagonia: Cinco Saltos began as an artistic and cultural alternative to help counterbalance social issues among youth. Since 2018 over 70 students are attending the program where they’re given an opportunity to learn guitar, percussion, vocals and participate in regular audio recording and Hip Hop workshops.

Highlight: The program is operating in 2 locations in Cinco Saltos where cultural opportunities for youth are lacking.

>Learn more

The PFC Diamante program located in the city of Diamante, north of Buenos Aires, offers guitar, percussion, accordion singing lessons, as well as traditional music programming to local youth. Diamante is the only access point for local youth to engage with music and the arts. Renowned musician Lee Oskar has partnered with Diamante to provide harmonicas and harmonica lessons.

Highlight: Youth Engagement – Diamante is the only center available to local youth to access music and the arts.

>Learn more

The Khlong Toey Music Program in the Khlong Toey slum serves some of the poorest and most marginalized youth in Thailand. Resources, opportunities, and expectations for a bright future are scarce in this community. Modern music instruments and ensemble performance are offered at this program. In 2012, this program had up to 4 volunteers, a few instruments, and a few students. Now, there are 10 staff members, over 100 instruments, and 80 youth who attend regularly.

Highlight: Youth Engagement – In a high-density community, the Khlong Toey program is the only local program that offers free music lessons to children from the poorest households.

>Learn more

The Kathmandu Music program brings music and arts education to young children and teenagers who live in the capital city of Nepal. Our work in Kathmandu started over 10 years ago, at the Mitrata home, an orphanage where we provided music lessons to hundreds of kids during more than a decade.

Highlight: Social Cohesion – Mitrata targets the most at-risk youth and works to build inclusivity.

>Learn more

The Musica Music Institute in Lalitpur, Nepal, just outside the capital of Kathmandu, began in a drum shop and has expanded into the current program reaching 60 youth each week. The program offers vocals, keyboard, guitar and drums classes. The program has expanded to also include access to computers, and the ability to introduce recording classes and is hosting public performances so the students can showcase what they’ve learned.

Highlight: Professional Development – Musica student Anu has proven a bright star and model for other youth in Lalitpur.

>Learn more

The Udayapur Music Program is also located in Tintale Village, as well as two other locations in the towns of Katari and Gaighat. Udayapur reaches almost 200 youth between 3 locations, providing music education, as well as other music and dance activities. Facing major obstacles due to class inequality, the local team has worked for over a decade to prove to community members that music can be a powerful tool to tell the stories from the community and promote community development. Both the Mother’s Society and Udayapur programs are now well established in their communities.

>Learn more

The Tintale Village Mothers Society located in the Udayapur district in eastern Nepal, is one of the poorest and most marginalized communities in all of Nepal. Began as a movement among 35 local women to change their lives and daughters’ futures, the Mother’s Society has reached thousands of community members across villages spread throughout the region. They use music and dance to engage community members and have real conversations about the dangers of sex-trafficking, early marriage, domestic abuse, sustainable incomes through livestock and sewing, among many other themes.

Highlight: Gender Development – Reaching upwards of 400 women and girls in recent visit to remote Hill Tribe Region. Gender development activities are otherwise not accessible.

>Learn more

The Baja Musical Arts Initiative, , located in Tijuana, turns music education and orchestral performance into tools for social cohesion in a community overwhelmed by gang violence. Choir classes, body movement, harmony, as well as instrument classes are offered to youth. Program leaders use these classes as tools to build a sense of teamwork, and provide community concerts to show family members and the community at large the fruits of their children’s efforts.

Highlight: Promoting Identity – Building self confidence among youth who are most prone to join gangs.

>Learn more

The Salam Music Program , is located in the Bidi Bidi refugee settlement, in Northern Uganda, which is the largest refugee camp in Africa. Playing For Change Foundation has partnered with local NGO Sina Loketa to bring access to music and arts education to the youth of the settlement. In 2021, we initiated musical activities for about 60 youth by hiring a music teacher ( vocals, guitar, keyboard ) and a traditional dance teacher. The staff is now composed of 8 members.

Highlight:Our partner Sina Loketa is a refugee led Ugandan NGO dedicated through strengthening capacities of young people from the refugee and host communities.

>Learn more

The Cahuita Music Program , The Cahuita Music program was inaugurated in February 2022, in the town of Cahuita located on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. This project is the result of a partnership between PFC Foundation, UNFPA and Asociación de Desarrollo Integral de Cahuita.

Highlight:The program focuses on transmitting the afrodescendente musical culture of the Calypso and offers classes in guitar, dance, percussion and keyboard. PFCF and UNFPA are joining forces to invest in cultural wealth so as to help balance other local economic, social, and educational disparities and help create bright futures for all of the adolescents students through music, art, life skills and social impact.

>Learn more

The Zaatari Music Program , has been established in northern Jordan, inside the Zaatari refugee camp, where over 100,000 Syrian refugees have settled over the last decade. In collaboration with our esteemed partners at Questscope and Dream Day, we are offering complimentary music lessons across various instruments and disciplines, all facilitated by talented musicians from the Zaatari refugee community.

>Learn more

PFCF Miami – YMU , PFCF and local Miami organization Young Musicians Unite have teamed up to widen access to music activities for youth across the Wynwood and Citrus Grove communities in Miami! Daily music education programming takes place at Citrus Grove Middle School and regular afterschool programming occurs at the innovative YMU Studio in Wynwood!

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PFCF Miami – OYC , PFCF has partnered with Overtown Youth Center to bring music to youth in the Overtown area of Miami, including at the beautiful new OYC space! DJ Khaled’s We The Best Foundation and Guitars Over Guns also joined this coalition to bring positive change to Overtown youth.

Program in development

Cachimayo Music Program , In 2023, Playing for Change Foundation initiated a new music program in Cusco, Peru, in the community of Cachimayo, located in the outskirts of the city. Free music and dance classes are taking place on a bi-weekly basis at the Sagrado Corazon School in Cachimayo, driven by 4 experienced and dedicated teachers offering training in sikuri (traditional flute), guitar, percussion and vocals. Classes will resume in March 2024 after a 2 months summer program that will also provide music classes and activities during the holidays.

Program in development

Surtaal Music Academy in Lahore, Pakistan and PFCF have partnered to expand music education programming for underserved children throughout the city. PFCF
and Surtaal are working to reinforce Surtaal’s existing programming across two locations in Lahore, in addition to creating professional music performance and studio recording opportunities for music students.

>Learn more

Glasswing International and PFCF have partnered to unlock the musical and creative potential of youth in the communities of Mixco, Villa Nueva, and Guatemala City, Guatemala. We do this through Glee Club, an extracurricular program that fosters creativity through singing and dance. Glee Club has been implemented in 17 public schools in these communities.

La ALianza’s comprehensive art program, which has been in development for over a decade, not only seeks to foster creativity and physical expression in CAY, but also aims to equip them with socio-emotional skills that promote a therapeutic and healing approach, partnering with Playing For Change Foundation to institute formal music and art therapy and expand music programming across three ALA locations within and surrounding Guatemala City.

Highlight: Specialized and tailored care annually to over 250 victims of violence,

>Learn more

HIG and Playing For Change Foundation have partnered to expand their humanitarian work and bring music and art therapy to youth in the cities of Ternopil and Vinnytsia in Ukraine.

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The Sound Space and PFCF have joined forces in Mumbai, to support a mobile music classroom built inside a bus that travels across multiple communities.

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CITTA and PFCF have partnered with to help address the decline of ancestral music and cultural heritages in Northwest India as well as empowering marginalized girls through education and music. Our first workshops begun in summer 2025 were targeted to build a network of culture bearers who can transmit ancestral customs to youth across multiple villages located in rural areas.

>Learn more

DWS was founded by Buddhist nuns in 1990, DWS is a beacon of hope for over 1,000 girls from underserved communities, providing a safe haven and top-tier education. Now, we’re joining forces to make their music and dance programs even stronger.

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