Educating Through the Power of Music:
Exploring History, Literacy,
Society and Personal Reflection
MeMA participants editing their PSA project
MeMA participants writing song lyrics
WHO WE ARE
For 14 years, MeMA-Music has helped youth and young adults across Chicago discover the power of music as a tool for learning, reflection, and expression.
As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit serving under-resourced communities and beyond, we use meaningful, timeless music to connect learning across history, society, civics, and literacy. Through guided listening, discussion, writing, and creative projects, participants strengthen critical thinking, build literacy skills, and develop the confidence to share their ideas and perspectives.
Our programs also create supportive, trauma-informed spaces for individuals navigating life challenges. Through music and creative expression, participants reflect on personal experiences, build self-awareness, and strengthen social-emotional skills that support resilience, communication, and personal growth.
Core Principles
MeMA-Music Was Founded on Two Principles:
1. Music is a vehicle for personal expression and growth.
Meaningful songs give participants of all ages a way to explore ideas, reflect on experiences, and express their perspectives in creative and authentic ways.
2. People have the potential to create positive change in their lives and communities.
With guidance, support, and meaningful creative engagement, individuals can build confidence, develop skills, and gain insight that empowers them academically, socially, and personally.
What Makes Us Unique
MeMA-Music integrates music, learning, and creative expression in ways that make education engaging, relevant, and meaningful.
Participants explore the stories, themes, and historical context behind powerful songs, using them as a lens to think critically, ask questions, and reflect on their own experiences and the world around them.
Our programs also bring working musicians, producers, writers, and other creative professionals into learning environments. These artists share how they use creativity as a tool for storytelling, communication, and understanding society.
This blend of music, dialogue, reflection, and creative work helps participants strengthen skills while discovering and developing their own voice.
Who We Serve
MeMA-Music works with youth, young adults, and adults across Chicago through partnerships with schools, after-school programs, and community organizations.
Many participants come from under-resourced communities where access to consistent arts and creative learning opportunities is limited. Our programs are designed to engage individuals who may not always connect with traditional learning environments by using music as an accessible entry point into literacy, history, society, and personal reflection.
We also serve individuals affected by trauma. In these settings, music and creative expression provide a supportive environment for reflection and self-expression, helping participants strengthen social-emotional skills, build self-awareness, and find their voice with confidence.
Our Approach
Real-Life Learning
Participants explore meaningful music and the stories behind it to understand history, society, and personal experiences. By linking academic concepts to real-world events and everyday life, learning becomes engaging, relevant, and memorable
Creativity & Youth Voices
Participants write, perform, and create projects that amplify their voice, build confidence, and spark imagination. Guided reflection helps participants explore their ideas and express themselves creatively.
Music as a Learning Lens
Music strengthens literacy, critical thinking, and social-emotional skills. By analyzing lyrics and themes, participants make connections across subjects and experiences, building skills they can apply in classrooms, after-school programs, and community settings.
Under her leadership, MeMA-Music has spent more than a decade partnering with schools and community organizations across Chicago to bring music-based learning to youth and young adults.
Meet Our Founder – Jeanne Warsaw
A trailblazer in the music industry, Jeanne Warsaw, a Chicago native, has over 25 years of experience working with iconic artists, including Janet Jackson, David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, Isaac Hayes, and Lenny Kravitz, and many others.
She began her career at the legendary Chicago retailer Rose Records as a buyer and quickly advanced to become a Radio Promotion Assistant for Sony Records in New York. Over the years, Jeanne held leadership roles as Executive Promotion & Marketing Director for Sony Music, RCA, Elektra/Warner Bros., and Virgin Records, and later founded her own consulting company, JW Promotions.
Jeanne’s extensive experience in the music industry gives her unique insight into the power of music as a vehicle for cultural expression and social change. After leaving the corporate music world, she founded MeMA-Music, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to inspiring and empowering Chicago youth in underserved neighborhoods. Through programs that use music with powerful messages, Jeanne helps young people build literacy, deepen historical awareness, spark civic understanding, and see their own potential to shape their communities and futures. For the past 14 years, MeMA-Music has provided education, mentorship, and safe creative spaces in schools and community centers, helping youth find their voice, share their stories, and envision brighter futures through the power of music.
Our Story
MeMA-Music grew from a simple but powerful idea: that music can do more than entertain; it can teach, connect, and inspire people—especially young people—to see themselves as thinkers, creators, and contributors.
Since its founding, MeMA-Music has evolved into a trusted arts-integrated education organization serving youth and young adults across Chicago. Our programs meet participants where they are—academically and emotionally—using meaningful music as a bridge to literacy, historical awareness, civic understanding, and self-expression.
Over the years, we have partnered with schools and community organizations to create learning spaces where participants feel engaged, heard, and valued. In these spaces, music becomes a starting point for dialogue, reflection, and creativity. Participants explore how artists have used songs to reflect their times and share lived experiences, then apply those insights to their own writing, discussions, and creative work.
The name MeMA reflects both purpose and heart. It stands for Motive and Encourage Music Appreciation, and was also the nickname Jeanne Warsaw’s mother used for her grandchildren—a reminder that learning flourishes in environments rooted in encouragement, care, and belief in each person’s potential.
What began as a response to shrinking access to the arts has grown into a sustained commitment to youth development. Today, MeMA-Music continues to provide consistent, high-quality programming in schools and community spaces, helping young people build skills, confidence, and agency. Our programs also create supportive environments where participants affected by trauma can reflect, express themselves creatively, and strengthen social-emotional skills. Through music and artistic exploration, participants gain tools to better understand the world around them and their place within it.
Through music, learning becomes more than information—it becomes a pathway for participants to find their voice, understand their world, and imagine new possibilities for the future.
Trusted by Schools, Community Organizations, and Funders
For 14 years, MeMA-Music has delivered long-term, arts-integrated residencies engaging youth and young adults across Chicago.
Sustained residencies that engage participants deeply over multiple years
Partnerships with educators and community leaders to create meaningful learning experiences
Collaboration with professional artists and creative practitioners to bring real-world expertise into programs
Supported by foundations and donors committed to arts and youth development
Our Partners
