The Recording Academy Elects 19 Leaders To Its 2024-2025 Board Of Trustees
The Recording Academy has elected 19 new leaders of diverse backgrounds and disciplines to add to its 2024-2025 National Board of Trustees.
Following this year’s annual Recording Academy Board of Trustees meeting, 19 leaders of diverse backgrounds and disciplines have assumed their position on the 2024-2025 Board of Trustees. Effective June 1, the newly elected Trustees joined the Academy’s midterm Trustees, including National Officers Tammy Hurt (Chair), Dr. Chelsey Green (Vice Chair), Gebre Waddell (Secretary/Treasurer), and Christine Albert (Chair Emeritus) 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.
Recording Academy members play a key role in shaping the next generation of the organization’s leaders on a local and national level. Each year, the Academy’s 12 Chapters’ Voting and Professional Members vote in their respective Chapter Board Elections to elect their Chapter’s Governors. Of the Trustees that serve on the National Board, eight are elected by Voting and Professional Members of the Academy (four each year) and 30 are elected by the Chapter Boards (15 each year). The remaining four seats are composed of the National Trustee Officers serving the roles of Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary/Treasurer, and Chair Emeritus, who are elected by the Board of Trustees once every two years. All positions on the Board of Trustees are subject to two two-year term limits.
The full list of the Academy’s Board of Trustees is below:
2024-2025 RECORDING ACADEMY BOARD OF TRUSTEES
| Cheche Alara^ | Jennifer Blakeman^ | EJ Gaines^ | Taylor Hanson^ | Ledisi | Ken Shepherd^ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Christine Albert | Evan Bogart | Kennard Garrett | Justin “Henny” Henderson^ | Eric Lilavois | Jessica Thompson^ |
| Marcella Araica | Torae Carr^ | Sara Gazarek^ | Tammy Hurt | Susan Marshall | Gebre Waddell |
| Nikisha Bailey^ | Dani Deahl^ | Tracy Gershon | J. Ivy | Riggs Morales | Paul Wall |
| Julio Bagué | Maria Egan^ | Dr. Chelsey Green | Terry Jones^ | Donn Thompson Morelli “Donn T” | Wayna |
| Larry Batiste | Fletcher Foster^ | Dave Gross^ | Angelique Kidjo | Ms. Meka Nism^ | Tamara Wellons^ |
| Marcus Baylor | Anna Frick | Jennifer Hanson | Mike Knobloch^ | Ashley Shabankareh^ | Jonathan Yip |
^Elected or re-elected this year
Bold identifies National Officers
“I’m honored to welcome this amazing group of creatives to our Board of Trustees,” said Harvey Mason jr., CEO of the Recording Academy. “Our Board’s expertise and dedication to helping music people everywhere has been essential to all we have achieved at the Academy. However, the work never stops, and I look forward to working alongside our new and current Trustees on ways we can continue to provide guidance for our music community.”
“Welcoming our newly elected Trustees is always such an exciting time at the Academy,” said Hurt. “With new ideas to contribute to our Board and the eagerness to helping change music, I have no doubt that together this year’s Board of Trustees will continue our commitment to fostering a diverse and representative music industry.”
Recording Academy members play a key role in shaping the next generation of the organization’s leaders on a local and national level. Each year, the Academy’s 12 Chapters’ Voting and Professional Members vote in their respective Chapter Board Elections to elect their Chapter’s Governors. Of the Trustees that serve on the National Board, eight are elected by Voting and Professional Members of the Academy (four each year) and 30 are elected by the Chapter Boards (15 each year). The remaining four seats are comprised of the National Trustee Officers serving the roles of Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary/Treasurer, and Chair Emeritus, who are currently midterm, and are elected by the Board of Trustees once every two years. All positions on the Board of Trustees are subject to two, two-year term limits.
