Music executive Steven Victor is launching a philanthropic arm of his Victor Victor Worldwide (VVW) venture. With it, the Universal Music Group senior vice-president of A&R is committing $1 million to the newly formed Victor Victor Foundation (VVF).
Victor, whose background includes running G.O.O.D. Music, the imprint founded by Kanye West and distributed through Def Jam (where he later served as a senior A&R exec), and representing clients include Pusha T, The-Dream and the late Pop Smoke via his Victor Victor management, tells Variety: “I’m committing $1,000,000 to the foundation — it’s a starting point and I know it’s going to take much more than that to affect real change.”
Of VVF’s mission, Victor outlines the division’s purpose in a statement. Read it in full below:
The injustices against the black community that persists in our country, fueled by systemic racism and prejudice that lies within the criminal justice system and other institutions, must stop. No one should be conditioned to cope with the worst of humanity on a daily basis. That’s not what I want for my children or yours. I remain hopeful for the next generation and I am committed to doing my part … to continue the fight to affect systematic change, to support economic empowerment for our next generation and to aid in the needs of our community.
Voting is critical, especially this year, when talking about institutional change so we’ve partnered with Vote Save America. Here you can check your registration status or register, find information on elections including key dates and calls to action by state. Throughout the year, we will launch campaigns to encourage voter turnout.
One of the goals of the foundation is to offer both emotional and financial support. For me, mentorship from leaders in this industry has had an immeasurable impact on my career, but access has been hard won. I want to empower the next generation of children of color and give them access to opportunities in business. And more importantly, the know how to exploit and grow those opportunities.
Last but not least, we know that our communities are struggling right now and know that there are immediate needs. Our long-time friend and client, Pusha-T, challenged us to feed our cities and we accept that challenge. We’ll be in Brooklyn, NY and Flint, MI- my and my wife’s hometowns, cities that have given us so much- supporting families with grocery giveaways. We will announce details shortly. Additionally, the VVF will make a $25,000 donation to the Fund for Public Schools to provide aid to students in Brooklyn to support their education and growth. This initial donation will go to aid students affected by the Covid-19 pandemic to help provide critical resources including basic needs, housing and educational tools and programs.
I am proud to work with a team of people who are as thoughtful about these issues as they are committed to doing something about it. This is just the beginning…