PANEL - Amplifying Impact: Driving Social Change Through Music

Music has long been a powerful tool for activism, raising awareness, and inspiring change. This panel will explore how artists, industry leaders, and organizations can leverage music to drive social impact and create meaningful movements. From innovative digital initiatives to grassroots advocacy, our panelists will share strategies for using music as a force for positive transformation. Join the conversation on music’s evolving role in shaping culture, amplifying voices, and fostering change.

Featured Speakers:

Bertis Downs, General Counsel, R.E.M., Bertis Downs PC Law Office

Bertis Downs has lived in Athens GA since 1978 when he began law school. He is a Georgia attorney and was a longtime adjunct professor at the University of Georgia School of Law. His specialty is entertainment law, and he has represented the band R.E.M. throughout their career as a band and as a business. 

Mr. Downs graduated from Davidson College in 1978 with a Bachelor’s degree in History and received his Juris Doctorate in 1981 from the University of Georgia School of Law. 

Mr. Downs clerked for Senior Judge Wilson Cowen of the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit of Washington, D.C. in 1983-84. For many years, he taught Entertainment Law at the University of Georgia School of Law.  He also taught the Recorded Music part of the Counseling Clients in the Entertainment Industries for the Practicing Law Institute seminar and has participated in the Music and Personal Appearance Division of the American Bar Association Forum Committee on the Entertainment and Sports Industries. 

Mr. Downs is active in many civic and political organizations, and has served on the boards of People For the American Way, Network for Public Education, The National Education Association Foundation, Historic Athens, and the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.  He is grateful for a gainful retirement these days that includes helping preserve and expand the legacy of his longtime client R.E.M. and spends his time mainly in Athens GA and rural New Hampshire with his family including young adult children and too many dogs.

Deborah Dunn, Vice President, Well Dunn Foundation

 Deborah Dunn is Vice President of the Well Dunn Foundation, founded in honor of her daughter Emily Dunn in 2012.  Deborah’s role in Well Dunn is to screen every applicant and personally interview each finalist.  Inspired by Emily’s experiences, diverse students from around the country are matched to unique opportunities inside the music and entertainment industry that include paid and for-credit internships, tour operations, job shadowing and externship programs with festivals.  Well Dunn has also expanded into mentorship programs, offering cohorts both education sessions taught by industry insiders, followed by matching each participant with mentors from the industry.  This program offers one-on-one sessions supporting each mentee with practical insight and guidance into networking and employer expectations.  Entering our second decade, Well Dunn has established a growing list of alumni who now work in the industry..

An artist advocate, Bryan has spent 30+ years at the nexus of music, business, and technology. He provides digital strategy to media companies and A-list musicians. He's held key positions at and consulted labels, distributors, SoundExchange, and global streaming platforms. He created the Music Business Toolbox, a book and tools used by music business programs to empower musicians and executives with actionable business guidance.

Moderator: Emily White (CEO #iVoted Concerts & CEO, Impact Concerts & Data)

Emily White is the CEO of Impact Concerts & Data, Founder and CEO of #iVoted Concerts and a Founding Partner at Collective Entertainment in New York City. #iVoted produces data-driven concerts on election nights and during early voting periods that the public enters with a selfie from outside their polling place. White is a Visiting Fellow at Johns Hopkins University’s SNF Agora Institute with the mission of strengthening global democracy. Through this work White and SNF Agora Institute have analyzed the data on the top trending artists in key locations, whose electoral margins are often decided by the size of a concert venue, to determine which artists increase civic impact the most by comparing fan demographic data with local voter files. #iVoted and SNF Agora are currently developing a tool that shows where any artist increases civic impact the most. White is also an Amazon #1 best-selling author of How to Build a Sustainable Music Career & Collect All Revenue Streams and hosts the #1 Music Business podcast globally of the same name. She’s a 2020 Billboard Woman of the Year, has been on the covers of both Pollstar Magazine and Billboard and has proudly served on the boards of Well-Dunn, Future of Music, CASH Music, SXSW, The David Lynch Foundation Live while additionally serving on The Recording Academy’s Education Committee and Pandora’s Artist Advisory Council.