Shelley Tomberg is the Director of Development at Music Aid Northwest, a nonprofit dedicated to ensuring every student in Washington state has access to quality music education.

Since its founding, the organization has raised over $1.78 million to provide hundreds of schools with instruments, repairs, sheet music, and other essential classroom needs.

In this episode, Shelley shares how a group of musicians came together in the wake of a global crisis, and how that mission has evolved over the past two decades as the need for music education funding has grown dramatically. We explore why music is far more than a “nice to have” in schools, and Shelley also reflects on the realities teachers face today — buying instruments out of their own pockets to rotating students through limited resources.

Shelley shares the moments that keep her committed to this work: seeing students light up when they pick up an instrument for the first time, and watching young musicians step onto a stage with confidence and joy.