OneBeat Accelerator

OneBeat Accelerator

Second Round of OneBeat Accelerator Recipients Announced

OneBeat is excited to announce nine new recipients of the OneBeat Accelerator.  The OneBeat Accelerator provides a micro-grant to Alumni for the development and implementation of follow-on projects which support democratic principles and address topics such as access to education, community resilience, economic empowerment, media literacy, and youth empowerment.     This summer and fall, OneBeat led two rounds of Accelerator competitions.  Applications were reviewed by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, OneBeat staff, and guest artists.   Daniel Limaverde (Brazil) Palimpsesto: A nonfiction narrative podcast featuring stories from Brazil that help redefine and recontextualize the country’s history through many different lenses, using social studies, interviews with scholars and academic researchers, and arranged in a narrative structure akin to shows like Radiolab and This American Life.   Kasiva Mutua (Kenya) Collaboration Through Giving: A giving program and series of musical collaborations and conversations aimed at uniting women […]
OneBeat Accelerator

Blessing Chimanga on Traditional Music, Education, and the Legacy of the Marimba

Found Sound Nation’s Nyokabi Kariuki spoke with 2014 OneBeat Fellow Blessing Chimanga, who was one of the first round recipients of OneBeat’s Accelerator Grant. Blessing will be using the Accelerator Grant to publish and distribute a comprehensive educational and historical teaching guide for the marimba, an instrument central to the cultural heritage of Zimbabwe, in the form of a book, album, and series of videos.   Read the full interview here.
OneBeat Accelerator

“As women, we need to fight for all of us”: 2014 OneBeat Alumna Daniela Serna on finding her Totona Power

Found Sound Nation’s Nyokabi Kariuki recently interviewed 2014 Alumna Daniela Serna, who was one of the first round recipients of OneBeat’s Accelerator Grant. In the interview, Daniela discusses feminism, the start of her group LADAMA, and her new Totona Power Podcast—a feminist space for conversation and reflection, focused on the stories of Afro-Colombian and Palenque female-identifying musicians in Colombia, funded with the help of a OneBeat Accelerator grant. Read the full interview here.