Eli Yamin is the Managing and Artistic Director, and Co-Founder, of Jazz Power Initiative (JPI), a non-profit organization whose mission is to ignite the power of jazz arts education to transform lives by fostering self-expression, leadership, collaboration and diversity. Based on Eli’s 30 years of experience as a performer, composer, educator and advocate, JPI’s holistic, cross-disciplinary and multicultural approach to jazz music education activates an inclusive atmosphere of creativity, collaboration, and community connections. African American cultural foundations of jazz and antiracist ideology guide JPI, from the models of artistic excellence presented, the background of the faculty and chosen repertoire, to the students served. “Jazz Power Tools” are taught, such as improvisation, making a soulful sound, call and response, syncopation, and swing. Each year, over 500 majority Black and Latino youth, ages 10-18, in New York City receive one hour or more of training, with 25 students receiving over 60 hours of training from Jazz Power Initiative at no charge to families. For adults, Eli has trained over a thousand educators in teaching jazz across the curriculum, including with Jazz Power Institute, held each summer at Lehman College in New York City, and collaborating with organizations such as Jazz at Lincoln Center, Muse Machine, Fordham Graduate School of Business and the United States Department of State. Eli performed as a jazz and blues ambassador in over 25 countries and at Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center and the White House. His recordings include You Can’t Buy Swing with his jazz quartet; I Feel So Glad, with his blues band; Louie’s Dream, dedicated to “our jazz heroes,” with New Orleans-based clarinetist Evan Christopher, and Live In Burghausen with jazz icon, Illinois Jacquet. His three youth-centered musicals — Nora’s Ark, Holding the Torch For Liberty, and Message From Saturn — have been performed internationally in four languages and across the United States. After years of playing the blues and studying Somatic Voicework(tm), the LoVetri method, Eli wrote So You Want to Sing the Blues: A Guide For Professionals published by Rowman and Littlefield in collaboration with the National Association of Teacher of Singing (NATS). A proud supporter and participant in public education, Eli holds a Bachelor’s in Music from Rutgers University, State University of New Jersey and a Masters in Music Education from Lehman College, City University of New York, and is a candidate for Doctor of Musical Arts at Stony Brook University, State University of New York.