We believe music can change lives.
Music programs have shown to increase standardized test scores, reduce disciplinary infractions, and improve graduation and attendance rates (College Board, 2002), (Bowen et al, 2019), (NAMM Foundation, 2015). Students who play an instrument have improved performance in science, English, and math (Gouzouasis et Al, 2020). And guess what? There is even a movement to use music as a form of mental health therapy as it helps decrease anxiety levels (Shipman, 2016).
Even with all of those statistics, art and music continues to decline in lower income urban schools as music programs are often first to go during budget cuts.
In 2023, Tullman Community Ventures (TCV) partnered with Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter/recording artist John Ondrasik from Five For Fighting to write a song with students from Farragut Career Academy in Chicago, Illinois. Ondrasik and a group of eight students participated in weekly after-school workshops and composed an original song, “Let Music Fill My World”.
Passionately expressing why music matters in their lives, the students wrote all of the verses in the song themselves. The students then had the opportunity to professionally record their song and create a music video with the help of seasoned industry music producers. Through the making of this song, they were able to fully fund a music teacher for the students at Farragut Career Academy.
We’re just getting started.
In the two decades since Five for Fighting’s first major single, “Superman (It’s Not Easy),” hit the stratosphere, Five For Fighting (aka John Ondrasik), has released six studio LPs, including the platinum-certified “America Town” and “The Battle for Everything;” and the top-10 charting “Two Lights,” along with an EP and live albums. A post 9-11 anthem, Ondrasik performed “Superman (It’s Not Easy),” at the 2001 Concert for New York, a benefit show at Madison Square Garden that honored first responders and the fallen about a month after the tragic September 11th attacks.
Ondrasik has penned major hits, including the chart-topping “100 Years,” “The Riddle,” “Chances,” “World,” and “Easy Tonight,” which have earned tens of millions of streams and placed him as a top-10 Hot Adult Contemporary artist for the 2000s. The reflective “100 Years” has joined “Superman (It’s Not Easy)” as part of the American Songbook and continues to stand the test of time. Five For Fighting’s music has also been featured in more than 350 films, television shows, and commercials, including the Oscar-winning “The Blind Side,” “Hawaii Five-O,” “The Sopranos,” and the CBS drama, “Code Black.”
Ondrasik says, “In speaking with philanthropist Cayley Tullman about how we can best support music in the schools in inner-city Chicago, I thought of my mom, Anna Marie. Mom was a USC music grad and piano teacher. When LA Unified cut all music funding for schools in the 1970s, she volunteered at Van Gogh Elementary School and began putting on full musicals with the 5th and 6th grade classes.
The impact that my mother had on me, and my classmates resonates over 50 years later. Many students still keep in touch with my mom, and for the most, music has continued to be instrumental in their lives.
That is why I was so proud to collaborate with students at Farragut Academy in Chicago in writing “Let Music Fill my World.” Though the title was mine, the lyrics are the kids! That effort, due to the Tullman Foundation, now provides a full-time music teacher for three years at Farragut! Lives will be changed for the better.
As President of the Tullman Family Office, Cayley determines philanthropic, political, business, and social impact investments. She works directly with senior business leaders and political officials to develop creative, scalable solutions to tackle our nation’s most pervasive problems in the economic, education, public health, and security spaces.
Cayley has over a decade of experience within the Federal Government where she served in operational and strategic roles in the United States and abroad. In early 2022, Cayley transitioned from her national security work into the private sector and assumed the role of President of the Tullman Family Office.
Tullman Community Ventures (TCV), the operational arm of the Tullman Family Office, works to realize the potential of all Americans through targeted investments in philanthropic causes and community ventures that help people live healthier and more prosperous lives and enable businesses to focus more on social impact. TCV looks for opportunities to promote personal growth through increasing equity and access to health, economic, and wellbeing initiatives. In the case of music and the arts, the research is clear: music education leads to enhanced creativity and confidence, better mental health and emotional stability, and improved student performance. All young people deserve this opportunity to thrive.
Tullman shared, “I remember sitting on the floor in front of the couch at my grandparents’ home in California, mesmerized watching my Uncle Stan play guitar and sing. Stan struggled with mental health and addiction, but when playing music, he shined so bright. Looking back, I believe music was his solace and gave him a way to express himself that he could not do with words alone. I miss him a lot and know he would be proud of our mission to connect more young people with the magic of music.”
