Founded in 1986 as the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz is recognized as the leading jazz education organization in the world, providing public school music education programs free of charge to students, teachers, schools, and communities worldwide. This year marks the 25th year the Institute has been in the Los Angeles Unified School System. For more than a decade, the MaddocksBrown Foundation has generously supported this Jazz in the Classroom educational outreach program in Los Angeles. Through this program, jazz masters and educators have taught and mentored thousands of Los Angeles public school students in the art form of jazz. Some students have gone on to become major musicians, and many have become major contributors in their communities having learned discipline, teamwork, imaginative thinking and other life skills as a part of their studies with the Institute.

International Jazz Day is a major partnership with the Institute, the United Nations, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). It was established in 2011 at the recommendation of Herbie Hancock, upon his designation as a Goodwill Ambassador to UNESCO. It was passed by both the UN and UNESCO and is celebrated each year on April 30th. Over the past 9 years, it has truly become a global movement reaching over 2 billion people each year through education programs, performances, community service initiatives, radio, television, streaming, and print, electronic and social media.