Latin music is reaching new heights with its growing influence on cultures across the world. More specifically, Latin music has built bridges across genres including jazz, pop, and hip-hop, to list a few. However, while its presence has made waves globally, leaders in the field have endeavored to tackle some of the challenges that still exist for creators. These challenges include access to music education, financial aid, a lack of gender equity, and limited historical music research and preservation.
Organizations like the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation—a charitable organization championing music education and empowering global communities through scholarships, educational programs, and grants—are addressing these changes head-on to raise awareness and diversify the pipeline of musicians in the space. Raquel “Rocky” Egusquiza, Executive Director of the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation shares more on transforming this narrative with some of the foundation’s latest initiatives.
The Pulse Behind The Foundation
“The vision for the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation is to be a global champion of music education and empower communities through Latin music and culture,” says Egusquiza.
Egusquiza has brought to leadership of the Foundation experiences as Executive Director for the Miami Marlins Foundation and Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion of the Miami Marlins along with experiences at NBCUniversal’s Telemundo Enterprises, and senior positions at organizations including AARP, Ford Motor Company, and AT&T. At the core of each of these experiences, she’s found working with purpose to be key.
In her strategic oversight of the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation, Egusquiza and the Foundation team have sought to fill voids that have persisted relative to access to music education programs, financial aid, gender equality, and historical music research and preservation.
For example, today, more than three million students across the U.S. in major urban areas lack access to music education programs, while studies show that when a student plays a musical instrument they are more likely to work better in groups, excel in their studies, think critically, and pursue further education. Additionally, while more than four million Latin students will attend higher education institutions by 2026–growing in larger numbers than other groups–these students often face great financial challenges.
Further, while Latina creators and executives are a vast part of the industry’s most significant contributors, they are often underrepresented in leadership positions. Meanwhile, studies point to the great parity brought about by inclusivity in various fields and the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation has found that the music industry too has seen waves of benefits from gender parity.
Shifting The Paradigm
As Egusquiza reflects on opportunities made possible by the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation she is grateful for all the bridges built by her team. “Each year, the Foundation awards scholarships to exceptional music students from around the world who face financial hardship and demonstrate a passion for Latin music and interest in pursuing a college education.” These scholarships include the prestigious Prodigy Scholarship–which is sponsored by a Latin music creator–and the Gifted Tuition and Tuition Assistance Scholarships.
Through sponsor support, the Foundation has also donated instruments to music programs throughout the United States and Ibero-America while offering educational programs like Latin GRAMMY In The Schools, Latin GRAMMY Master Series, and Latin GRAMMY Emerging Latinas. The schools’ program connects music students with industry professionals, the master series offers lectures and conferences with talented musicians and business professionals, and the emerging Latinas program provides year-long mentorship opportunities to advance women’s career opportunities.
To further address gender equality the Recording Academy, Arizona State University (ASU), and Berklee College of Music Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship (BerkleeICE) also produced a study called Women In The Mix. This study found that: Women are severely underrepresented in the music industry, accounting for just 21.6% of artists, 12.6% songwriters, and 2.6% producers; 36% of respondents earn less than $40,000 per year; and nearly half of women in the industry feel like they should be further along in their careers but had difficulty due to prevalent discrimination practices.
In addition, Egusquiza and team have created Latin Music Research and Preservation Grants to cultivate opportunities for music institutions, non-profit organizations, musicologists, and researchers around the world as she shares: “The research and preservation of Latin music is important because it serves as a cultural archive that promotes diversity and understanding between different Spanish and Portuguese-speaking communities, allowing future generations to appreciate and learn from the unique rhythms, sounds, and folkloric traditions of this rich musical heritage.”
Egusquiza’s Wisdom For Future Music Leaders
With Egusquiza’s experience as the Executive Director of the Latin GRAMMY Foundation and as a global leader in cultivating opportunities to expand the richness and longevity of Latin music, Egusquiza shares the following tips for creators entering the Latin music landscape:
- Collaborate and network: “Networking can be a powerful tool in the music industry and on the overall Latin music landscape. Seek opportunities, teachers, and mentors to help you advance. Collaborate across the aisle with your peers. Collaborations are so powerful and can expand your horizons.”
- Leverage digital platforms and streaming: “We’ve witnessed how the music industry has evolved and how digital platforms and streaming have become such an important element of how music is accessed. Tap into those platforms as they are expanding the industry.”
- Stay resilient and persistent: “It’s not an easy industry. And when you’re a creator it can be a long journey. Stay persistent and focus on your vision, always trying to improve your craft and your music. And learn from your successes and failures. It’s going to take time to adapt to the changing landscape of the industry, but if you stay passionate about what you love and stay resilient you can navigate the challenges and carve a path for yourself and be successful.”
Looking Into The Foundation’s Future
To date, Egusquiza and her team have supported more than 35,000 music students, awarding more than 330 scholarships, hosting almost 50 different educational programs, and investing more than $1.4 million in education programs and musical instrument donations. She and the Foundation team hope to continue to expand access to music education and multiply programs for aspiring music creators while preserving Latin music and its cultural heritage–genres, instruments, and cultural practices. She too is passionate about continuing to lean into the legacy the power of music has to “create positive social change.”
When the Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation team looks ten years down the line, the team would also like to be able to sustain and multiply its work through an endowment while also educating communities on the expansive value of music education if it is seen as a priority in education systems globally. The Latin GRAMMY Cultural Foundation is nearing its 10-year anniversary.
Read the full article here
