Musician Changemaker Accelerator Academy: Spring 2026 Cohort
Social change incubator helps musicians transform their communities
WILDER, VT, JANUARY, 2026—Music to Life is kicking off its latest Musician Changemaker Accelerator (MCA) Academy, beginning 6.5 months of online training and coaching for community-driven musicians as social entrepreneurs. The only accelerator of its kind for musicians, the MCA provides training in strategic communication, concept/program development and partnership/resource development, followed by 1:1 coaching with experts in the nonprofit, business and entertainment fields. Developed from best-practice accelerator models in the tech, non-profit, and music industries, the MCA has been positively assessed by Americans for the Arts, the Tuck Consulting Group (at Dartmouth College), the Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Arts.
“We are elevating a new model of how musicians can make sustainable change, supporting themselves and returning value to their communities” says Liz Stookey Sunde, Co-Founder & Executive Director of Music to Life. “This is about making a living while also making change.”
Music to Life’s MCA Academy application pool grew by 48% this year, with notable increases in diversity (age, race, abilities, genres) and geographic representation. The Spring 2026 cohort of 10 musicians will each develop or expand a music-driven community program, addressing a variety of issues of social concern including: gender and racial equity, Indigenous representation and access to music, intergenerational connection, prison reform, BIPOC rights, and more. These artists work in genres like hip-hop, jazz, funk, rock, folk, Latinx, electronic music, and opera, and bring their valuable lived experiences to the cohort.
Kylie Griffin - a dedicated music educator and participant in the Spring 2025 Cohort - describes her MCA coaching experience as both “life- and career-changing.” With the support of her coach, Jenifer, Kylie was able to secure university funding for her initial project and confidently pivot when her MCA project took a new direction. She credits the Academy with giving her the “skills, knowledge, and support [she] needed to be successful.”
The MCA Academy is made possible by the generosity of Sony Music Group, the Truist Foundation, the Levitt Foundation, and other individual and corporate contributors.
To download a .pdf of the Spring 2026 cohorts’ projects and profiles, click here.
