Mobilize
Building Meaningful Partnerships
By mobilizing our partnerships with local schools, community organizations and global nonprofits, we expand access to music for youth and underserved communities. Through these collaborations, we cultivate creativity, promote cultural exchange, and drive meaningful social impact, using music as a powerful force for connection and change.
Partners
Playing For Change Foundation (PFCF)
Playing For Change Foundation and the Glasser Center partner locally and globally to expand equitable music education and research, from Santa Ana, California to the Bidibidi Refugee Settlement in Uganda.
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Save The Music
We’ve partnered with Save The Music to invest over $750,000 in music education, expanding access for underserved students across Orange County and beyond—fostering creativity, equity, and lasting impact.
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The Drake Gives
The Drake Gives empowers youth through public school music programs, raising funds via an annual benefit supported by The Drake restaurant in Laguna Beach, in partnership with Save The Music.
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Samueli Academy
The Glasser Center, alongside Playing for Change Foundation, launched an expanded music program at Samueli Academy in Santa Ana, California supporting foster youth and other disadvantaged students with new classes, teachers, a recording studio, and UCI-led research on music’s impact on student success.
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Collaborative Media Advocacy Platform (CMAP)
In Port Harcourt, Nigeria, we partner with CMAP to center music in community-led urban development and revitalization. Together we support youth-led innovation, storytelling, and research at the newly constructed Chicoco Studios Media Shed 2.0.
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Kakuma Sound
Kakuma Sound is a 700+ member music collective spanning refugee camps in four countries. Our partnership supports performance, research, and infrastructure to amplify music as resilience and opportunity.
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Regents Point
In partnership with Regents Point, UCI students perform seasonal concerts that bring joy, connection, and emotional well-being to senior residents through the transformative power of live music.
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Yolé!Africa
Yolé! Africa empowers youth in the DRC through arts and social innovation. Our partnership supports their vision of peace, resilience, and regeneration through music, education, and cultural preservation.
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Playing For Change Foundation (PFCF)
Playing For Change Foundation and the Glasser Center partner locally and globally to expand equitable music education and research, from Santa Ana, California to the Bidibidi Refugee Settlement in Uganda.
VISIT WEBSITESave The Music
We’ve partnered with Save The Music to invest over $750,000 in music education, expanding access for underserved students across Orange County and beyond—fostering creativity, equity, and lasting impact.
VISIT WEBSITE
The Drake Gives
The Drake Gives empowers youth through public school music programs, raising funds via an annual benefit supported by The Drake restaurant in Laguna Beach, in partnership with Save The Music.
VISIT WEBSITESamueli Academy
The Glasser Center, alongside Playing for Change Foundation, launched an expanded music program at Samueli Academy in Santa Ana, California supporting foster youth and other disadvantaged students with new classes, teachers, a recording studio, and UCI-led research on music’s impact on student success.
VISIT WEBSITE
Collaborative Media Advocacy Platform (CMAP)
In Port Harcourt, Nigeria, we partner with CMAP to center music in community-led urban development and revitalization. Together we support youth-led innovation, storytelling, and research at the newly constructed Chicoco Studios Media Shed 2.0.
VISIT WEBSITEKakuma Sound
Kakuma Sound is a 700+ member music collective spanning refugee camps in four countries. Our partnership supports performance, research, and infrastructure to amplify music as resilience and opportunity.
VISIT WEBSITE
Regents Point
In partnership with Regents Point, UCI students perform seasonal concerts that bring joy, connection, and emotional well-being to senior residents through the transformative power of live music.
VISIT WEBSITEYolé!Africa
Yolé! Africa empowers youth in the DRC through arts and social innovation. Our partnership supports their vision of peace, resilience, and regeneration through music, education, and cultural preservation.
VISIT WEBSITE
Impact
We bring together changemakers—educators, musicians, students, local and global partners and institutions—to harness the power of music as a tool for community wellness and social transformation. By uniting diverse voices and resources, we amplify impact and create meaningful, community-driven change.
Investing in Music-Driven Futures
Since launching in 2023, our Glasser Music Scholarship program has supported 20 UCI students who are passionate about infusing music into their careers, awarding 10 students each year with $10,000. More than financial aid, this program invests in future changemakers who believe in music’s power to inspire and transform.
Mapping Change in Uganda
In Bidibidi, a refugee camp in northern Uganda, we pair GIS technology with music and arts programs to provide opportunities and strengthen livelihoods for sustained resilience, community building, storytelling, social network building, skill development and access to wage employment.
Empowering Students Through Music
Our partnership with Save The Music brings high-quality music programs to underserved public schools. Since 2021, over $750,000 has been raised to support public school music education—funding programs in Orange County, California, and aiding schools across the U.S. This work ensures students have access to music as a powerful tool for creative expression, self-confidence, and a sense of belonging in their educational journey.
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Empowering Student Changemakers
Through our Small Change, Better World seed grant, UCI students are turning bold ideas into real impact. In Fall 2024, grant recipients from the Sustainable and Just Futures Club launched a Repair Hub to upcycle clothing. All of our tracks encourage students to use music as a tool for social, environmental, and health transformation, proving that small actions can spark meaningful change
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Global Stage, Local Voices
In July 2024, the Glasser Center accompanied our partner Kakuma Sound—a powerful music collective from five African refugee camps—as they performed to packed crowds at Denmark’s renowned Roskilde Festival. This major nonprofit event celebrates sustainability, community, and musical talent from around the world, offering Kakuma Sound a global platform to share their voice.
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Expanding Opportunity Through Music
Through an innovative partnership with Playing For Change Foundation, the Alec Glasser Center for the Power of Music & Social Change has significantly expanded the music program at Samueli Academy in Santa Ana, California, adding new classes, high-quality instruction, and essential instruments. Together, we’re creating more opportunities for students to thrive, express themselves, and build lasting skills through music.
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Music That Heals
In Fall 2024, UCI student musicians brought the healing power of live music to residents of Regents Point Life Plan Community. These concerts not only uplifted spirits but also supported senior well-being, offering stress relief, sparking memories, and fostering meaningful connections through the universal language of music.
Opening Doors to the Music Industry
In Spring 2025, the Alec Glasser Center for the Power of Music & Social Change sponsored 10 UCI students to attend the Breaking IntoThe Music Industry Conference in Indio, California—an inspiring weekend of hands-on learning and exclusive networking with top industry leaders, artists, and mentors.
Get Involved
Join us in harnessing the power of music to create meaningful change through learning, research, community engagement or celebration. There’s a place for everyone to make an impact.
