The Upswell Forum is designed to accelerate the impact of social entrepreneurs moving their organizations from start-up to growth phase, with a focus on organizations serving communities of color from Atlanta, Boston, Houston, Detroit. Prelude Music Foundation, based in Houston, participated in this year’s Upswell cohort. Participants, Ana Treviño-Godfrey, Co-Founder and Director of Education, Jonathan Godfrey, Co-Founder and Executive Director, and Margaret Owen, Director of Operations, shared their reflections on the Upswell Forum.
Tell us about Prelude Music Foundation and the community you serve.
The Prelude Music Foundation (PMF) brings singing, dancing, and playful learning to preschool classrooms in underserved communities in Houston. We use music to nurture literacy and math skills while supporting social development during the most formative years of life. Since 2014, PMF has delivered joyful, developmentally appropriate music and movement classes to thousands of young children in high-need schools, early childhood education centers, and in healthcare settings. All of our program sites are located in ZIP codes that have been identified as "distressed" or "at risk" by the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University, and we proudly partner with families, teachers, school leaders, physicians, and foster parents to bring peace, love, and joy through music.
Today, our music specialists provide weekly music classes to over 2,600 preschool children in 15 sites, using the Music Together®, a research-based music and movement curriculum aligned with the Texas PreK Guidelines, to teach letter sounds, counting, shapes, and more. Our program also features professional development workshops for classroom teachers, parent education workshops and resources for families, and arts enrichment activities for the school community. Each year ends with My First Orchestral Concert, a free daytime concert at Miller Outdoor Theatre in Hermann Park featuring musicians from the Houston Symphony, Apollo Chamber Players, and Mercury Chamber Orchestra. We transport all 2,600 of the students we serve, plus their teachers and chaperones, to this special event where they sing along to the songs they have been singing all year with children and families from all over Houston. For most of our students, our program is their only opportunity to experience arts education. And for most of our program sites, the trip to Miller Outdoor Theatre for My First Orchestral Concert is their only field trip all year.
What inspired you to participate in the Upswell Forum?
As a learning organization committed to continuous growth, we were immediately drawn to the mission of Upswell Forum. When our partners at Good Reason Houston recommended the program, we saw a perfect opportunity to reflect, grow, and plan for the next chapter of our work. The mission of Upswell Forum, “to accelerate the impact of social entrepreneurs moving their organizations from start-up to growth phase, with a focus on organizations serving communities of color,” resonated loudly with our team. As we celebrated our 10th anniversary and looked forward to strategically planning for the future, we realized it was the perfect time to participate in the Upswell Forum. We were excited about the opportunity to learn from the faculty at Harvard Business School and collaborate with like-minded social entrepreneurs partnering within similar communities.
What was it like to learn alongside other social impact leaders and hear directly from HBS faculty?
It was inspiring to be surrounded by passionate, thoughtful leaders working across various sectors and addressing different needs within their communities. While our organizational focuses varied across arts, education, housing, technology, and more, we felt a sense of commonality as we were all united by a shared mission of making the world a better place through meaningful social change.
The HBS faculty brought expertise in leadership, fundraising, strategic growth, and innovation. Engaging directly with them and peers navigating similar challenges made it a powerful and motivational experience.
Were there any standout takeaways from those experiences?
There are so many! Here are a few:
Was there a moment or insight from the Forum that impacted you?
Monique Burns Thompson’s Aligning Solutions To Problems workshop profoundly impacted our direction for the next five years. Her session helped us clarify our impact goals and ensure alignment across our work. Another moment of insight came from Archie Jones’ Five C’s of Leadership Capital as we explored the concepts of Capability, Culture, Communication, Connection, and Confidence. Additionally, the workshop on utilizing AI provided insight on how to work smarter, not harder, by taking advantage of the available technology and tools.
We came home with a long and ongoing to-do list that is already reshaping how we operate.
How has the experience shaped your leadership or vision for Prelude Music Foundation?
In Archie Jones' words, we are embracing our “Big Hairy Audacious Goal” unapologetically. It opened our eyes to the fact that we can have a much larger impact than we originally thought we could. Not just in Houston, we see the potential to help change the fundamental way early childhood education is delivered by incorporating arts as a core part of the curriculum. We also refined our strategic plan and focused on how to be strategic about networking, fundraising, donor relations, and making those “BIG asks”. Additionally, we recognized the importance of strong systems and structures. Individual strengths are only as good as the system they are a part of. We are now working on formalizing and strengthening our internal systems to support sustainable growth.
What’s next for Prelude Music Foundation?
Because of the time spent at Upswell Forum, we recognized the need for an impact research project. We are currently in the design phase and have started conversations with local universities and researchers. We are designing what this research project will look like and are looking to implement it in the 2026-2027 school year. Over the next five years, we are scaling with sustainability in mind. We are committed to strengthening our connection with our community partners, growing the number of classrooms and students served, and enhancing communication with our network.
HBS Social Enterprise Initiative is now accepting interest forms for the January 2026 cohort on a rolling basis until December 1, 2025. To learn more about the Upswell Forum and submit an interest form, visit our page here.
