Pharrell Williams, Georgia Tech and Amazon Announces Winners of ‘Your Voice is Power’ Music Remix Competition

Entrepreneur and musician Pharrell Williams partnered with Georgia Tech and Amazon earlier this year to launch a music remix competition, “Your Voice is Power,” and the winners were just announced.

After going through more than 1,500 remixes from applicants representing middle and high schools across the U.S. and Canada, judges selected the winners (listed below) of the “Your Voice is Power” music remix competition.

“We’re honored to work alongside Georgia Tech and Pharrell, continuing our efforts to expand computer science education to more students from underserved communities and groups currently underrepresented in tech,” said Victor Reinoso, global director of Amazon Future Engineer. “We look forward to continue working with Amazon Music and more artists to support education and racial equality initiatives, and help students build life-changing skills that leverage computer science to propel their futures.”

The program was an educational collaboration called “Your Voice is Power” in conjunction with Amazon, Pharrell’s education equity nonprofit YELLOW, and the Georgia Institute of Technology. The first round of the competition started in January and continued until June 4. The “Your Voice is Power” collaboration allowed students to “explore how computer science, music, and entrepreneurship can advance equity.” The students used Georgia Tech’s EarSketch platform and code to remix Pharrell‘s song “Entrepreneur” that featured Jay-Z. The submitted remixes were judged based on the quality of music, code, and messaging by a panel of industry professionals.

The grand prize-winning students have been awarded a scholarship or a grant to start a business, while five teachers have been honored for going above and beyond to assist the students in the competition. The students and teachers are from Georgia, Illinois, Florida, Texas, California, and Ontario.

These are the grand prize winners awarded a $5,000 scholarship or a grant to start a business.

Beyuti Burrows from Martha Ellen Stillwell School of the Arts in Jonesboro, Georgia.
Jasmine Jenkinson from Georgian Bay District Secondary School in Midland, Ontario.
Samuel Kuran from North Springs High School in Atlanta, Georgia.
Diego Martinez from Lane Tech College Prep High School in Chicago, Illinois.
Eryon Panier from Palm Beach Gardens Community High School in Riviera Beach, Florida.

The five teachers below were recognized with a $1,000 cash award for above and beyond instruction while teaching the “Your Voice is Power” program.

Anastassia Gritsenko from Palm Beach Gardens Community High School in Riviera Beach, Florida.
Lanetha Jefferson from Teague Middle School in Humble, Texas.
Darryl Newhouse from James A Foshay Learning Center in Los Angeles, California.
Turner Ruetz from St. Anthony’s School in Kincardine, Ontario.
Amy Wozniak from Lane Tech College Prep High School in Chicago, Illinois.