We are a diverse group of musicians, facilitators, filmmakers, educators, and community members united by a common goal: to harness the transformative power of music, intentional dialogue, and creative storytelling.
OUR STORY
Founded in 2020, RYVL emerged during a time of significant change and collective reflection. We saw an opportunity to contribute to this moment of people using their voices to call for justice, looking inward to heal and unlearn harmful patterns we have inherited, and dreaming of a different—and better—future. Raise Your Voice Labs was created to unlock our fullest creative potential; to deepen our abilities to respond as bridge-builders; to use the power of song and group processes to make space for people to learn how to truly listen, how to share vulnerably, and how to work through, and learn from, conflict, an inevitability when difference is present.
OUR APPROACH
The strength of any organization lies in its team. Employees thrive in environments where they are valued, recognized, and given opportunities for growth. At Raise Your Voice Labs, we help create workplaces and groups where team members feel heard, appreciated, and empowered. This fosters engagement, passion, and motivation to drive success. Our mission is to build meaningful connections and inspire a shared vision for a brighter future. Let us help you transform your workplace into a dynamic environment where every team member is excited to contribute.
FOUNDING TEAM
Austin Willacy is a veteran singer-songwriter and group facilitator with decades of global experience helping leaders make lasting change.
An award-winning musician with 4 CD’s and 2 EP’s to his name, he has produced 10 full-length albums and completed multiple world tours with vocal band The House Jacks. For the past 22 years, Austin has directed ‘Til Dawn, Youth in Arts’ award-winning teen a cappella group that empowers youth to find their voices in many different ways. Inspired by his youth work, the Apple Store in San Francisco brought him in to do an Apple Music Lab on Finding Your Creative Voice and Songwriting Basics on the iPad.
Austin is an organizer and facilitator for YES! YES! Jams help individual changemakers deepen their root system and grow in consciousness and self-care, so they can become more healthy and effective and restore balance and well-being. When there is congruence between our goals and how we work, we can generate more lasting and effective positive impact. He is one of the co-founders of the Black Diaspora Jam, and the Arts for Social Change Jams in the US, Turkey, and India.
Austin also has a side career in soundalike singing voiceovers for games including Guitar Hero and Karaoke Revolution. But, who cares about all that? Because what really matters is what Bonnie Raitt told him: “You can really F*ckin’ sing!”
Micah Hendler is a musical changemaker working to harness the power in each of our voices to make a difference. Micah founded the Israeli-Palestinian Jerusalem Youth Chorus in 2012 as a synthesis of years of work in musical community-building and conflict transformation. He continues to apply this work, not only through Raise Your Voice Labs, but also through leadership in the Justice Choir and Braver Angels grassroots movements. Micah writes for Forbes about music, society, and social change.
Sarah Brajtbord is deeply committed to supporting young people to recognize their power, discover their passions, and build the relationships needed to work together to create change. Sarah served as the U.S. Programs Manager and Camp Director of Seeds of Peace for 8 years. In addition to helped co-found Raise Your Voice Labs, Sarah is an organizer and facilitator of YES! Jams and a program director at Maine Boys to Men.
CREATIVE TEAM
Melanie DeMore is a vocal activist, composer, and songleader who has been teaching collaborative composition to inspire change for more than 25 years.
Melanie DeMore 🎵🧩
Gino Pastori-Ng is a hip-hop artist, songwriter and facilitator working at the intersection of community building, reverence for nature and ancestral connection.
Gino Pastori-Ng 🎵🧩
Tesfa Wondemagegnehu is an acclaimed conductor, composer, and arranger, and is a co-founder of the Justice Choir movement, which has created singing communities of conscience and action in cities across America.
Tesfa Wondemagegnehu 🎵🧩
Shilpa Jain serves as the Executive Director of YES!, which focuses on personal, interpersonal and systemic transformation.
Shilpa Jain 🧩
Marianne is a professional vocalist and music educator with 15 years experience. She teaches voice and piano at Opal Music Studio in Old Town Virginia and is an Adjunct Professor of Voice at Howard University in Washington, D.C.
Marianne Cheng 🎵🧩
Assaf Ben Shetrit is an award-winning filmmaker and producer who grew up with numerous languages and cultures leading to a diverse approach to filmmaking.
Assaf Ben Shetrit 🎞
Christopher Markos is an Award-winning creative director, photographer, and storyteller, whose video for Barack Obama was the most-watched video of his 2012 reelection campaign.
Christopher Markos 🎞
Danielle Williams is an international composer, conductor, and educator who focuses on collaborative creation and student-led initiatives. She has done this work in Brazil, Tanzania, Palestine and now in the United States.
Danielle Williams 🎵🧩
Solon Snider is a composer/songwriter, music director, performer, and educator based in NYC.
Solon Snider 🎵🎧
Mira Awad is a Palestinian-Israeli ARTivist - a singer-songwriter, actor, director, producer, and visual artist who teaches creativity and performance in the name of equality and solidarity.
Mira Awad 🎵🧩🎞
Johnny DelToro is a composer, music producer, and sound engineer with a strong passion for connecting people and their stories through audio.
Johnny DelToro 🎵🎧
Alia Lahlou engages individuals and groups to achieve more connection, honesty, and depth, in service to holistic social change and liberation.
Alia Lahlou 🧩
Ed Boyer is a multi-platinum, GRAMMY and Emmy Award-winning sound engineer, who has mixed everybody from Pentatonix to GLEE with finesse and power.
Ed Boyer 🎧
Sage Snider is a multi-instrumentalist and folk singer working at the intersection of cultures and ideologies to depolarize America.
Sage Snider 🎵🧩
Jared Michaud is a singer, actor, music educator, and facilitator from rural Maine. He is passionate about using the arts to bridge the urban-rural divide in America.
Jared Michaud 🎵🧩
MALINDA is a creative artist of conscience with more than 1,000,000 followers on YouTube. She is a singer-songwriter, actor, dancer, multi-instrumentalist, and director and producer of viral videos.
MALINDA 🎵🧩🎧🎞
Ethan Treiman is a composer, video-editor, and arranger from Berkeley, California -- now taking the year off to sing (virtually) with the Yale Whiffenpoofs!
Ethan Treiman 🎵🎞
Hanzade Germiyanoglu has been facilitating spaces to hold multiple truths, building resilient communities in the Middle East for a decade.
Hanzade Germiyanoglu🧩
Legend: 🎵 = songwriting leader | 🧩 = group process facilitator | 🎧 = sound engineer | 🎞 = filmmaker