1,000 Dreams Fund & Ila and Dinesh Paliwal Foundation Launch Scholarship Fund Supporting Women in Music

Paliwal Club of 100 Music Scholars Fund will Award Micro-Grants to Young Women Pursuing Careers in Music Over Next Decade

News provided by

1,000 Dreams Fund

May 12, 2021, 09:00 ET

WASHINGTON, May 12, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- 1,000 Dreams Fund (1DF) and the Ila and Dinesh Paliwal Foundation are proud to announce the launch of the Paliwal Club of 100 Music Scholars Fund, which will finance the dreams of talented young women pursuing careers in music.

The new fund will help women in music accelerate their progress toward their career goals while in school and ease the transition into the workforce. For the next ten years, the fund will either award four annual grants of $2,000 each, or provide a larger number of yearly grants ranging from $500-$2,000 apiece. Supporting and empowering young women across the music industry is critical because, in 2020, only 20.2% of artists featured in songs that made the top 100 charts were women, and women held only 2.6% of all producing positions across the Billboard Hot 100 Songs.

"1,000 Dreams Fund has worked closely with the Paliwal Foundation to support women in S.T.E.A.M. for years, and we are incredibly excited to further expand this partnership to specifically fuel the dreams of aspiring female music professionals," says 1DF founder and CEO Christie Garton. "Removing existing barriers like access to funding will further our shared goal of elevating women in the male-dominated music industry so that they may achieve their dreams."

"Investing in the future of the music industry is more important now than ever because COVID-19 has transformed the performing arts while simultaneously reinforcing the significance of music for so many," says Ila Paliwal. "Music has played an incredibly important role in my life, which is why it brings me and Dinesh great joy and pride to be able to provide talented young women with the funds they need to pursue their own passions in music."

The Paliwal Club of 100 Music Scholars Fund is the newest addition and joins the Paliwal Club of 100 STEAM Scholars Fund, a partnership between 1DF and the Ila and Dinesh Paliwal Foundation that helps high-potential young women in S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, & Mathematics) complete their education and enter the workforce. The scholarship fund provides one-time financial assistance to eligible women to help with expenses such as research-related costs, convention and educational conference travel costs, graduate school exam and/or entry fees, and instructional programs related to professional pursuits.

Dinesh Paliwal is a partner at KKR and a Board Member of Nestlé and Raytheon Technologies. Previously, Dinesh served as Chairman and CEO of HARMAN, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samsung Electronics Co. Ila Paliwal is an award-winning global recording artist, song writer, composer and producer based in New York.

Applications for the 2021 Paliwal Club of 100 Music Scholars Fund are open from May 12, 2021 through October 15, 2021. Eligible applicants must identify as women, be currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate school in the U.S., and be pursuing a career in music. Ila Paliwal and her son DJ Aasheesh "ShiShi" Paliwal will share more details on the new fund during a fireside chat via Zoom on May 12^that 7:00pm EST. Please register for the event here, or follow this link for more information on how to apply.

About 1,000 Dreams Fund
1,000 Dreams Fund (1DF) is a national scholarship fund for American girls in high school and college. 1DF believes that big expenses should never stand in the way of big dreams. Since its launch in 2016, over $400,000 in funding has been granted to talented young women in need, helping them pay for the "extras" in school like study abroad, tech devices for the classroom and travel to conferences and seminars. 1DF has been featured in NBCNews.com, USA Today, MarketWatch, Forbes, Huffington Post, Chicago Tribune, Entrepreneur, TODAY and others. To learn more about 1DF, visit http://1000dreamsfund.org/

About the ILA and Dinesh Paliwal Foundation
The ILA and Dinesh Paliwal Foundation is dedicated to creating positive social and economic outcomes for worldwide communities and their future leaders. By providing both financial and advisory support to underrepresented populations in science, tech, engineering, arts and math, the foundation promotes innovation across the board.

Media Contact:
Christie Garton,
[email protected]

SOURCE 1,000 Dreams Fund