When Gabrielle Canon was eight years old her mother bought an old piano for their home in Chatsworth, California. Since that moment Gabrielle has fostered a deep and enduring relationship with music. As a student at the University of Southern California Gabrielle was part of the Music Industry program, which allowed her to develop her love for music into an understanding of how music is created and distributed, and the Peace and Conflict studies program, which gave her an extensive background in peace issues and conflict resolution. These two passions have defined her life and she continues to believe in music’s power to change the world.

Working from these backgrounds, Gabrielle is developing her career as a journalist, with the aim of using the written word, and its ability to inspire, to make the world a better place. She cannot imagine a better example of this, than the inspirational stories from the Playing For Change community she is getting the opportunity to feature in Change In Action.

Gabrielle is currently the assistant producer to The Insighters, a progressive radio program in Los Angeles, CA where she also resides.

After learning about Playing For Change’s mission and hearing the beautiful music being created, I jumped at the opportunity to interview Mark Johnson about the project. I was so inspired and moved by what Playing For Change stands for and works toward, I wanted to help out in any way possible. After reading some of the emails sent from individuals all over the world my confidence in the project was cemented and I began to see how the movement being started by Playing For Change is reflected in the positive actions people share with us each day. These stories bring me hope and faith that we are working together to achieve a better tomorrow.