The grand finale of DLD Munich 2025 brings together Nancy Hunt and Nile Rodgers, founders of the We Are Family Foundation, Ralph Simon, and Chmba Ellen Chilemba to celebrate the power of creative action and intergenerational support for young changemakers.
The foundation has its origin in the aftermath of 9/11, Nancy Hunt explains, when she and Rodgers rerecorded his hit “We Are Family” to bring people together during a time of crisis.
The song had already stopped being “just the song on the dance floor”, she notes. “It’s used at every political campaign – it doesn’t matter what side you’re on. It’s used at every wedding, bat mitzvah, you name it. It’s a standard.”
From that realization came the idea of the “larger idealistic concept of bringing people together to make the world a better place” through the foundation, Nancy Hunt recalls.
Chmba Ellen Chilemba shares her personal journey of growing up in Malawi, once “the world’s poorest country” where education and healthcare are considered luxuries. Determined to address her country’s challenge with inequality, Chilemba started a microfinance program for women when she was just 16 years old.
Now, as director of the foundation’s Youth to the Front Fund, she helps distribute funding to young changemakers worldwide. “You know what’s shameful about funding is that only 1% of philanthropic funding goes to the global south, like to black and brown countries”, she notes. “And that’s where the world’s poorest are.”
Watch the video for more about the work of the We Are Family Foundation – and make sure to stay all the way through the end when Nile Rodgers lights up the room with his impromptu performance of David Bowie’s classic “Let’s Dance”, which he co-produced 1982. And don’t miss Nile Rodgers’ solo DLD25 session with Ralph Simon in which he gives glimpses into the creative magic that brought so many of his songs to life.
