Ife Mtume has provided critical support to advance resources and opportunities for the Maplewood and South Orange After-School Program, which was subsumed by the South Mountain YMCA. As a former YMCA staff member, Ife’s utmost mission was to promote health and wellness, self-esteem, confidence, social skills, a safe environment for school aged children to learn and grow, and reassurance to channel their wildest dreams through their art—musical, performative, written, drawn, or galactic imagination.

Ms. Mtume has a longstanding commitment to underserved communities and is proud to fulfill the mission of the Mtume Foundation to continue the legacy of her father’s discography, activism, and political acumen in support and develop of artists and arts organizations.