The Recording Academy has elected four National Officers and 19 leaders to its 2023-2024 Board of Trustees, effective today.

Tammy Hurt has been re-elected to serve as Chair of the Board of Trustees, Dr. Chelsey Green was elected Vice Chair, Gebre Waddell was elected Secretary/Treasurer, and Christine Albert has been re-elected to serve as Chair Emeritus.

"I'm pleased to introduce and welcome the new National Officers and Trustees to our Academy family," said Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy. "This great, new group reflects our eclectic music community and will carry forward our mission of serving all music people. I look forward to working alongside this esteemed group to continue the evolution of our Academy."

In partnership with Mason, the National Officers lead the Trustees and Academy senior staff to strategically guide and shape the mission and policies of the Academy and its affiliates. The Board of Trustees works to uphold the Academy's mission to serve and represent the music community at-large through its commitment to promote diversity, equity and inclusion, fight for creators' rights, protect music people in need, preserve music's history, and invest in its future.  

Read the full list of the Academy's Board of Trustees below, and keep watching this space for more exciting developments in this crucial sector of the world’s leading society of music people.

View the full list of the Recording Academy's Board of Trustees, Chapter Officers and Academy bylaws.

2023-2024 RECORDING ACADEMY BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Yolanda Adams

Chuck Ainlay

Christine Albert^

Marcella Araica^

Nabil Ayers

Julio Bagué^

Larry Batiste^

Marcus Baylor^

Jennifer Blakeman

Evan Bogart^

Alex E. Chávez

Doug Emery

Anna Frick^

EJ Gaines

Kennard Garrett^

Tracy Gershon^

Dr. Chelsey Green^

Jordan Hamlin

Jennifer Hanson^

Tammy Hurt^

J. Ivy^

Terry Jones

Andrew Joslyn

Thom "TK" Kidd

Angélique Kidjo^

Mike Knobloch

Ledisi^

John Legend

Eric Lilavois^

Susan Marshall^

Donn Thompson Morelli "Donn T"^

PJ Morton

Natalia Ramirez

Michael Romanowski

Falu Shah^

Von Vargas

Gebre Waddell^

Paul Wall^

Wayna^

Jonathan Yip^

^Elected or re-elected this year.

Bold identifies National Officers.

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"I'm pleased to introduce and welcome the new National Officers and Trustees to our Academy family," said Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy. "This great, new group reflects our eclectic music community and will carry forward our mission of serving all music people. I look forward to working alongside this esteemed group to continue the evolution of our Academy."

In partnership with Mason, the National Officers lead the Trustees and Academy senior staff to strategically guide and shape the mission and policies of the Academy and its affiliates. The Board of Trustees works to uphold the Academy's mission to serve and represent the music community at-large through its commitment to promote diversity, equity and inclusion, fight for creators' rights, protect music people in need, preserve music's history, and invest in its future.

Get to know the National Officers:

Tammy Hurt is a drummer, music producer and Emmy-nominated television producer. Hurt is an openly out LGBTQ+ officer, a landmark for the Academy, the second Atlantan and the third female to hold the position. Hurt's latest musical project, Sonic Rebel, incorporates original, genre-blurred, Dolby Atmos music beds and mashup remixes, resulting in an electrifying live music experience. Her boutique entertainment firm Placement Music, which she founded in 2010, has been commissioned for various projects including FOX Sports, Paramount Pictures, CBS, MTV, HBO, BET, Sony, the NFL, and NASCAR, among others. She is a recipient of Catalyst Magazine's Top 25 Entrepreneurs and Ones to Watch Award, has been a featured TEDxAtlanta speaker, and has been recognized as a Most Admired CEO by the Atlanta Business Chronicle. Hurt led the campaign that successfully passed the state of Georgia's first standalone music tax incentive, the Georgia Music Investment Act, and was commended by Governor Brian Kemp for her impact on the music industry.

Dr. Chelsey Green is a multi-instrumentalist, vocalist, entrepreneur, and educator who combines classical and contemporary to make music uniquely her own. Dr. Green and her ensemble, Chelsey Green and The Green Project, have released five studio projects, debuted on the Billboard Contemporary Jazz Chart (Top 30), appeared in the Top 5 albums on the iTunes Jazz Chart, and actively perform concerts, music festivals and educational workshops around the world. Performance highlights include ensemble debuts with the National Symphony Orchestra and the United States Air Force Band, NPR Tiny Desk with WuTang Clan and Maimouna Youssef, the GRAMMY Awards® with Lizzo and StringCandy, and more. Committed to music education, advocacy and youth arts access, Dr. Green is an associate professor at Berklee College of Music and also serves as a member of the Program Council of NewMusicUSA.

Gebre Waddell is a tech entrepreneur, accomplished mastering engineer, and published author. As CEO and co-founder of Sound Credit, he played an instrumental role in the creation and growth of the platform, driving innovation in the field of music fintech and credits. With over 20 years of experience as a professional mastering engineer, he has made contribution to works of prominent artists such as Ministry, Public Enemy, Lil' Wayne and Rick Ross. In 2013, his book Complete Audio Mastering was published by McGraw-Hill Professional, garnering endorsements from institutions such as New York University and reaching readership globally.

Christine Albert is an independent recording artist and founder/CEO of Swan Songs, an Austin, Texas-based nonprofit that fulfills musical last wishes. She has released 12 independent albums as a solo artist and as part of the folk/Americana duo Albert and Gage. She has appeared on "Austin City Limits," was honored as Female Vocalist of the Year by the Kerrville Folk Festival Music Awards, and was awarded Superstar of Austin Music by the Austin Chamber of Commerce for her community service work. Albert was inducted into the Austin Songwriters Group "Texas Music Legends Hall of Fame" in 2018.

The Recording Academy's Black Music Collective & Amazon Music Announce Recipients For The 2023 "Your Future Is Now" Scholarship

While the 2024 edition of  South By Southwest roared in the streets of Austin, women from the Recording Academy’s Texas Chapter matched the festival's enthusiasm during the Women In the Mix brunch.

Held March 15 at the Four Seasons Hotel, the brunch and intimate mixer focused on the importance of leadership amongst women within the Recording Academy and music industry at large. The event concluded with a stunning, live acoustic performance by GRAMMY U member and winner of the Texas Block Party competition Jordan Curls.

Following a moving Women in the Mix event during 2024 GRAMMY Week, the Texas brunch brought together a diverse panel of industry experts. Panelists were Christine Albert, the Academy's Chair Emeritus of the Board of Trustees; Yolanda Adams, a Texas Chapter Trustee and multi GRAMMY-winning gospel artist, actor, and activist; and Gina Chavez, the Texas Chapter Vice President and Chapter’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Representative.

Texas Chapter Board Secretary Caren Kelleher moderated a conversation about the power of women serving in leadership roles, and the many ways women are breaking barriers in the music industry.

"We are seeing that change of voting women coming into the Academy, and are proud of the work we are doing together," said Christee Albino, Executive Director of the Texas Chapter. "It’s all about community, the relationships between music makers and professionals," added Chavez.

The Latin GRAMMY nominee asserted the value of building relationships amongst industry professionals with the same goals of elevating women and underrepresented communities.

True to the Academy's goals, women dominated the 2024 GRAMMYs, winning a majority of the major Categories. This showing at the 66th GRAMMY Awards further demonstrates the Recording Academy’s unwavering commitment to improving women’s representation through Chapter governance and on the GRAMMY stage. Seven of the eight Album Of The Year nominees were women, with Taylor Swift becoming the first four-time winner of the award.

Albert congratulated the exponential influx of female representation on the Texas Chapter’s board, specifically. Their presence had significant impact. "The Music Educator Award and Best Song for Social Change. The idea for Best Song for Social Change first came from the trustees," Albert said. "This is the kind of work that I’m really proud of." 

The Best Song for Social Change is a Special Merit Award established by the Recording Academy’s National Trustees in 2022 to acknowledge songwriters with message-driven lyricism that speaks to current social issues, demonstrating global impact. In 2024, Somali-Canadian artist K'naan won this award for his song "Refugee." 

The Music Educator Award was awarded to Virginia music teacher and orchestra leader Annie Ray for her outstanding commitment to furthering music excellence inside and outside the classroom. 

These new initiatives are designed as opportunities to invite marginalized voices to serve and lead on Chapter committees. The panelists expressed that without expanding the perspectives of their Chapter board members and committee members, expansion of GRAMMY Categories would not have been made possible.

*Jordan Curls performs at Women in the Mix brunch. Photo: Ken Eke*

"My voice had the power to help all of the people I was representing as a Governor," said Adams as she emphasized the collaborative nature between the Chapters and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team at the Recording Academy.

Moving forward, Chavez highlighted that the most important question to ask a fellow Chapter member is, "Have you thought about running? Your voice deserves to be heard at the table."

As this inspiring question of service lingered in the minds of the brunch’s attendees, Sr. Director of GRAMMY U Jessie Allen introduced singer/songwriter Jordan Curls. As a member of the Washington D.C. Chapter, Curls and her band were selected as the winners of GRAMMY U’s Block Party Contest, where they performed at the Recording Academy’s Texas Block Party on March 13. 

Following the performance of an original song "Life After Sunshine" to conclude her performance, Curls was greeted with a standing ovation from all Women in the Mix brunch attendees, including her idol Yolanda Adams. 

Curls and Adams met for the first time following her performance, where Adams shared words of praise for the emerging New-Age/Neo-Soul artist and created a full-circle moment. 

There was no better way to end such an enlightening discussion, and the advice from Albert, Adams, and Chavez came to fruition through the first-hand promotion of mentorship and elevation of women across generations in the music industry.

Revisit The Action At The Recording Academy’s Texas Chapter Block Party During SXSW 2024

The Recording Academy announced the results of its board elections on Friday (July 9), and the results mark a major leap forward for inter-Academy equality.

For the first time, people of color make up the majority of the Recording Academy's Board of Trustees, amounting to 53% of the freshly constituted board; people of Caucasian descent account for the remaining 47%.

As the gender breakdown goes, males account for 56% of the new board and women make up 44%.

The new board contains 45 people, including four officers previously announced: Tammy Hurt (from the Academy's Atlanta chapter), National Chair; Rico Love (Florida), Vice Chair; Om'Mas Keith (Los Angeles), Secretary/Treasurer; and Christine Albert (Texas), Chair Emeritus.

A third of the trustees are GRAMMY winners, including John Legend, Dave Cobb, Leslie Ann Jones, Yolanda Adams, Jimmy Douglass, Lisa Kaplan, Angelique Kidjo, Terri Lyne Carrington, PJ Morton, Chece Alara, Claudia Brant, David "Swagg R' Celious" Harris, Om'Mas Keith, and Julia Michels.

The Recording Academy welcomes this ongoing development of a more equitable Board of Trustees and looks forward to further milestones of inclusivity in the future.

Recording Academy Bolsters Membership With 2,710 Music Creators And Professionals Invited

The Recording Academy announced today its newly elected national officers of the Board of Trustees, voted upon at the organization's annual spring Board of Trustees meeting in May. Tammy Hurt was elected as the Chair of the Board of Trustees, and Rico Love will serve as Vice Chair. Om'Mas Keith was elected Secretary/Treasurer and Christine Albert continues her role as Chair Emeritus. All officer appointments are effective immediately.

"I'm in awe of the amazingly talented group that's been elected to lead this new era of the Academy and really excited at the possibilities as I start this journey with Tammy, Rico, Om'Mas, and Christine," Harvey Mason jr., President/CEO of the Recording Academy, said. "I know this group is going to do great work as we continue to transform the Academy and support the music community."

ABOUT THE NATIONAL OFFICERS

Tammy Hurt

As an independent music industry veteran, Tammy Hurt has been a driving force in Atlanta's music scene for decades. An Emmy-nominated producer for her work with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Hurt is the managing partner of Placement Music, a boutique entertainment firm specializing in custom music, scoring and licensing. FOX Sports commissioned the company for two consecutive Super Bowl broadcasts to create an original full orchestral score. Additional credits include Paramount Pictures, CBS, MTV, HBO, BET, Sony, Lifetime, Hallmark, NFL, NASCAR, "True Blood," "Dexter," "Drop Dead Diva," Mean Girls 2, and multiple custom placements in the indie film HITS, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival.

Hurt's most recent project, Sonic Rebel - We Made This With Our Hands, is a five-song instrumental EP that is a mashup of electronic, rock, glitch, dub trap, and hip-hop elements, releasing summer 2021. Recorded at Big Trouble Recording in L5P Atlanta, the project features Dan Gleason and Ben Homola from Grouplove, engineer TJ Elias, multi-instrumentalist Kevin Spencer on guitar, and Hurt on the drums.

A co-founder of the nonprofit organization Georgia Music Partners, Hurt spearheaded the campaign to create and pass Georgia's first standalone music tax incentive, the Georgia Music Investment Act. She is a recipient of Catalyst Magazine's Top 25 Entrepreneurs and Ones to Watch Award and is an openly LGBTQ+ officer of the Recording Academy.

Rico Love

Rico Love is a three-time SESAC Songwriter of the Year recipient. He has written and produced hit records for artists such as David Guetta/Usher ("Without You"), Romeo Santos ("Promise"), Usher ("There Goes My Baby"), Nelly ("Just a Dream"), Trey Songz ("Heart Attack"), and Kelly Rowland ("Motivation"), and has contributed to GRAMMY-winning works such as Beyoncé's 2009 Best Contemporary R&B Album I Am... Sasha Fierce, Usher's 2010 Best Contemporary R&B Album Raymond v. Raymond, and Usher's 2010 Best Male R&B Vocal Performance for "There Goes My Baby." Love continues to enjoy success as a songwriter and producer, but is equally dedicated and passionate about his new music conference venture, We Love Music Conference, which is designed to educate, inspire and cultivate up-and-coming talent. His label, D1MG, has partnerships at Epic, Hitco and Sony.

Om'Mas Keith

GRAMMY-winning, multiplatinum-selling producer, engineer, composer, musician, performer, executive, and TV personality Om'Mas Keith is a Hollis, Queens, New York, native with a rich musical pedigree. He is one of the founding members of the avant-garde hip-hop/jazz trio Sa-Ra Creative Partners and has worked as a producer and songwriter with such artists as Erykah Badu, Jay-Z, Kanye West, John Legend, Anderson .Paak, Vic Mensa, Kali Uchis, and Frank Ocean. 

Om'Mas began his service to the Recording Academy as a Los Angeles Chapter Board Advisor in 2015-2016. He's since served as a Los Angeles Chapter Board Governor & National Trustee. As Awards and Nominations Co-Chair, he oversaw historic positive and cultural change to the awards process. His participation as a team leader during the GRAMMYs on the Hill campaign for the passage of the Music Modernization Act was "a life-changing experience." As a founding member of the Recording Academy's Black Music Collective, he is passionate about its goals of increasing diversity and advocating for racial justice.

Christine Albert

Christine Albert is an independent recording artist and founder/CEO of Swan Songs, an Austin, Texas-based nonprofit that fulfills musical last wishes. She has released 12 independent albums as a solo artist and as part of the folk/Americana duo Albert and Gage. Albert and her husband and musical partner Chris Gage also own and operate MoonHouse Studio and MoonHouse Records in Austin. She is known for her "Texafrance" series of French/English recordings that combine her European heritage and Texas musical roots.

She has appeared on "Austin City Limits," was honored as Female Vocalist of the Year by the Kerrville Folk Festival Music Awards, and was awarded Superstar of Austin Music by the Austin Chamber of Commerce for her community service work. She was inducted into the Texas Songwriter's Association Texas Music Legends Hall of Fame in 2018.

In addition to her role as Chair Emeritus for the Recording Academy, she also currently serves on the Board of Trustees of the Latin Recording Academy and the Board of Directors of MusiCares.

These accomplished, elected officers, in partnership with the newly appointed President/CEO Harvey Mason jr., will lead the Board of Trustees and Recording Academy senior staff to strategically guide and shape the mission and policies of the Recording Academy and its affiliates.

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