Testimonials

As a senior executive in the global music industry, I have known and admired Ruth’s work for 15 years.  I am now privileged to work with her and her team as a Global Advisor, where I have an up-close view of Ruth’s focused, brilliant leadership, including how they select and implement projects, all of which are to raise awareness and make real-life-positive changes in lives for people around the world who are living in the cross-hairs of crises: crises of violence, war, displacement, and so much more.  

Ruth brings legitimate music industry players (from artists to producers to companies GLOBALLY) together.  With her deft hand and powerful leadership, she facilitates the ask, engineers and receives media attention, and ultimately, deploys and activates the assets and resources necessary to positively affect change for underserved communities around the world. 

Furthermore, every project Ruth and In Place of War have created (for 20 years!) has promoted inclusion, education, and truly brought more awareness of the music industry’s capability to do GOOD THINGS for humankind worldwide.  As a true global citizen, she absolutely walks that walk as a leader and increases the global music business’s POSITIVE IMPACT on the world.

I have had the pleasure of knowing Ruth in her capacity as the CEO of In Place of War (IPOW). I currently serve on the Global Music Industry Advisory Board for this organization and it is inspiring to see Ruth lead IPOW with a strong dedication to using creativity as a tool for positive change in places of conflict.

Her leadership has been pivotal in enabling grassroots change-makers in music, theatre, and across the arts to transform cultures of violence into hope and opportunity.

I joined Ruth and a group of Global Change Makers on a trip to South Africa to witness first hand the impact IPOW’s efforts are having on communities in Soweto and Cape Town.

Her latest project, EarthSonic which aims to leverage music to inspire increased action around climate change is a truly unique and ambitious project. Watching Ruth rally support from a multitude of industries to bring this to life is proof that under her guidance almost anything is possible!

It is with my whole heart that I support Ruth Daniel's nomination for the Music Champion Award. In the nearly 4 years that I have known and worked with Ruth as a member of the Global Music Industry Advisory Board at In Place of War, Ruth has been an absolute force of nature. She is a true citizen of the world who is always utilizing music as a method of giving a voice to the voiceless, bringing hope and joy to areas of conflict, and educating those with personal power (geographic, political, financial, artistic, etc.) on ways that they can use that power to uplift marginalized communities.

In the time that I have worked with Ruth, she and the IPOW team have been involved in the creation of an album of sounds from the Colombian rainforest; worked on raising funds for a youth arts center in both the Lavender Hill neighborhood of Cape Town, South Africa and the El Faro neighborhood in Medellin, Colombia; provided musical equipment to multiple cultural spaces in the West Bank (prior to the current Israel/Palestine conflict); and have started working on a musical project with indigenous communities in Greenland that will incorporate the sounds of climate change into pieces of music, which will then be part of a series of globally streamed concerts. This is just a small sample of the incredible work that she does around the world, every day.

Ruth Daniel is someone who truly personifies the requirement of using music as a force for change, inclusion, education and improvement. Being a part of IPOW and knowing Ruth has certainly changed my life for the better, and I know she has bettered the lives of thousands of others across the globe through music.

The network she leads connects artists in areas of conflict, promoting music as a medium in the face of war, violence, and oppression. When words are censored, Ruth comes in, jumping through thick and thin to equip musicians, support them, produce, and cheer for them. While a fabulous woman like Ruth could have been anything she wants, she chose to be a change maker, a music champion, and an artivist.

I want to say on a personal level that she is one of those people you are grateful to have met in life. Ruth is extremely hardworking, sensitive, intuitive, and supportive. But above all, I can say that Ruth has a vision. She is convinced that creativity and art can change the world, and indeed, she is making it happen. In all the instances I have shared with Ruth, she always manages relationships with horizontality, always walks the path of understanding and empathy, and this has undoubtedly led her to the relevant and fundamental position she holds today on a global cultural level. If Ruth did not exist, we would have to invent her. She represents a light on the path and a professional and personal role model. Her way of being and her work inspire others, are contagious, and produce relevant changes. In my opinion, Ruth is a very valuable and unique person.