Chad Bernstein

Founder and CEO of Guitars Over Guns
Social Entrepreneurship Bootcamp Cohort 1

Reach out to Chad on LinkedIn

The Leader

Through the universal language of music, Chad has unlocked a bridge between mentors and youth. His doctoral dissertation, "The Effectiveness of Music Mentoring for At-Risk Youth Through the GOGO Program" (published in 2012) paved the way for GOGO's research-based methodology. Chad was inspired to create GOGO through his own journey in music. Knowing what kind of impact music has had on his life, he and fellow musicians couldn't stand on the sidelines and watch the very opportunities they experienced disappear from schools. As an active recording and live artist, he has worked with Pitbull, Shakira, Pharrell, will.i.am, Chaka Kahn, Natalie Cole, Maceo Parker, and the Temptations to name a few. These days, Chad is playing locally with the Spam Allstars and Suenalo, and is an adjunct professor at FIU.

Recent Wins

Became a Social Venture Partners Miami Investee (2017)
Named Ruth Shack Leadership Award honoree (2019)

The Bold Idea

Work collaboratively with schools and communities to encourage young people to become independent, productive members of society through individual expression, social interaction, and personal accountability.

The organization

Guitars Over Guns began as an informal music mentoring project led by Dr. Chad Bernstein, serving youth from under-resourced neighborhoods in Miami. The program has grown to offer no-cost music instruction, mentorship and academic support at 16 schools and community sites in Miami and Chicago, serving more than 2,700 students since 2008. Additionally, Guitars Over Guns now offers a more extensive curriculum that includes dance, visual arts and an annual summer camp. The goal at Guitars Over Guns has never been to create the next Jay-Z, Ricky Martin or Adele. Their goal is to give students the opportunity to use the arts as a way to build the life skills they need to thrive in school, at work and, one day, as adults with families of their own and as community leaders. In other words, to be awesome.