Sounds of Change

What Sounds of Change does

Sounds of Change (Stichting Sounds of Change) is a Netherlands-based non-profit foundation founded in 2017 and headquartered in Hilversum. The organization delivers trauma-informed, evidence-based capacity-building training that equips aid workers, psychologists, teachers, therapists, and musicians working in conflict zones, refugee camps, and marginalized communities with structured, safe, music-based tools for group regulation, connection, and creative expression. Its stated methodology rests on four core elements — Connection, Movement, Predictability, and Giving back control — and is explicitly positioned as capacity-building rather than therapy, designed to integrate into partner organizations' existing MHPSS and education programs.

The product portfolio comprises on-site Team Training for Aid Workers (Training of Facilitators and Training of Trainers), the Sounds of Change Academy (an intensive five-day program in the Netherlands plus a six-month Community Builder track), Online Training and Coaching backed by a customizable hybrid online manual and the Magical Suitcase instrument toolkit, and the Trauma Support Ukraine webinar series delivered jointly with Trauma International and Safe & Sound. A sub-brand, Sounds of Change at Work, runs corporate team-building workshops, and a collaboration with MassiveMusic and Deep House Amsterdam produced the Instruments for Change VST/sample pack, with proceeds supporting program work.

The organization operates as an ANBI-approved Dutch charity and is funded through a mix of individual donations (Orchestra of Changemakers monthly giving program starting at EUR 6/month), restricted grants from foundations and institutional donors such as the Drosos Foundation and ECHO, Academy training fees (EUR 600/person), and corporate workshop revenue. All management and trainers work as freelancers on a project basis; there are no permanent employees. Active program delivery spans Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Ukraine, Iraq, Syria, Turkey, and the Netherlands, with prior activity in Egypt, Greece, Romania, Cyprus, and Tunisia.

Name

Sounds of Change

Legal name

Stichting Sounds of Change

Website

https://soundsofchange.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sounds of Change is a Netherlands-based non-profit foundation that trains aid workers, teachers, and psychosocial professionals in conflict zones to use music-based, trauma-informed tools for group regulation and creative expression. It operates across eight countries including Lebanon, Palestine, Ukraine, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Turkey, and the Netherlands.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Music-based psychosocial training and capacity-building services

NAICS

Offices of Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapists, and Audiologists (621340)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Music Therapy (Educational/Developmental Programs) (EDAMANAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Behavior Change & Motivational Coaching (HSADAGAF), Music Theory, Ear Training & Musicianship (EDAMANAF)

Keywords

• Music therapy workshops
• Psychosocial capacity building
• Trauma informed training
• Humanitarian training programs
• Aid worker training

Headquarters

HQ city

Hilversum

HQ country

Netherlands

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Monthly Giving: The organization relies heavily on donations from individuals who become monthly donors (Orchestra of Changemakers). Donations fund training programs in conflict zones.
2. Foundation and NGO Grants: Funding from foundations such as Drosos Foundation for specific multi-year projects. ECHO (European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations) funding for Turkey training programs.
3. Sounds of Change Academy Training Fees: Intensive training programs in the Netherlands for professionals and advanced students. Costs €600 per person for the Academy 2026 program.
4. Corporate Team-building Workshops: Workshops and training programs for organizations and corporations in the Netherlands, contributing to teambuilding while generating revenue to support international projects.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Sounds of Change is a trauma-informed capacity-building non-profit that trains aid workers, teachers, psychologists, therapists, and musicians to use music-based tools for psychosocial support in conflict zones and refugee settings. Its core product is a 5-part training methodology covering musical activities, session design, trauma theory, facilitation skills, and self-care, delivered through on-site team training, an intensive Academy program in the Netherlands, online coaching, and targeted programs such as Trauma Support Ukraine.

Product overview

Sounds of Change is a trauma and evidence-informed capacity-building organization that offers music-based training programmes to enable social change. The portfolio consists of physical on-site training courses (Team Training for Aid Workers), the Sounds of Change Academy (intensive training programme in the Netherlands), Online Training and Coaching (with a hybrid online manual and library of exercises), and Trauma Support Ukraine (online webinars). The core training programme uses music as a tool for group regulation, connection, and creative expression, integrated into existing education and MHPSS programmes. Additional offerings include Sounds of Change at Work (corporate workshops), the Magical Suitcase (instrument toolkit), and Instruments for Change (VST/sample pack). All training strengthens local staff capacity without providing direct therapy.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Sounds of Change Academy: An intensive training programme in the Netherlands for professionals and advanced students who want to learn and work with the Sounds of Change method and mindset.
• Trauma Support Ukraine

Products and services

• Sounds of Change Core Training Programme

Quantifiable outcome

• Trained professionals in 8+ countries continuing to use music-based tools within their own organizations
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered major, core and minor.

• WelthungerhilfemajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Training two teams of Welthungerhilfe employees simultaneously in Gaziantep and Mardin, Turkey. Organization provides psychosocial support to victims of Syrian war and 2023 earthquake.
• Norwegian People's Aid (NPA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Collaboration to train team members of five local organizations working with women, children, families and tribal leaders in refugee camps and communities in Northeast Syria. Includes training at Al Hol camp.
• Ruwwad (Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Ongoing multi-year partnership with youth volunteer organization. Multiple training levels conducted since 2018. Works with scholarship students doing community service in marginalized urban areas.
• SPARKminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Online training collaboration during COVID-19 pandemic with students from Turkey, Lebanon, Kurdistan (N-Iraq) and West Bank. SPARK offers training for entrepreneurs in fragile states.
• Sol Diez (Ukraine)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Local organization in Uzhgorod, Ukraine led by Sounds of Change Academy alumna Kateryna Kudasheva. Collaboration for on-site training in Ukraine.
• Team UpminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Collaboration for Bună Ziua project in Romania, training team to integrate power of music into work with children, youth and parents.
• Shams Organization (Northeast Syria)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Local organization working with children and women in Al Hol camp, applying Sounds of Change method since March 2023. One of five local organizations trained under NPA partnership.
• Trauma International (Trauma Company)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 4 March 2022Ongoing collaboration for trauma-sensitive support training. Developed 'when the alarm bell rings' method for explaining trauma. Integrated their approach into Sounds of Change training sessions since the start of full-scale war in Ukraine.
• Safe & SoundcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Collaboration in Trauma Support Ukraine initiative. Partner in online trauma support coalition with Trauma Company International and Sounds of Change. Safe & Sound intervention methodology integrated into training.
• War Child LebanoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022Five-day training delivered to War Child Lebanon staff working in PSS, Education, Child Protection, Case Management, Research & Inclusion. Second training session conducted in 2022.
• MedeArts (Jordan)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Co-founded by Sounds of Change trainer Amjad Mestarehy. Initiative in Irbid creating decentralized cultural system using arts for societal advocacy. Multiple training collaborations since 2019.
• MassiveMusic and Deep House AmsterdamminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Collaboration to develop 'Instruments for Change' - a virtual software instrument (VST) and sample pack. Sales of the software generate donations supporting Sounds of Change work.
• Hope Flowers School (Bethlehem)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Long-term partnership since 2018 for training teachers and therapists. Renewed in 2024 for online trauma support during Gaza war. School focuses on peace education, children with special needs, and trauma support.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• El Sistema: Venezuelan-founded global network of youth orchestra programs combining music education with social development. Comparable mission of music as a tool for youth empowerment, but operates at much larger scale as the established incumbent in the field.
• War Child: International NGO focused on protecting and supporting children affected by war. Sounds of Change is an existing training partner to War Child Lebanon; comparable in operating in conflict zones with psychosocial support programs, but at much greater scale and scope.
• Save the Children: Major international NGO providing health, education, and protection services to children in crisis contexts. Comparable as a large institutional buyer and potential client for trauma-sensitive MHPSS training programs in conflict settings.
• BRAC: Large international development organization operating across multiple countries in Asia and Africa. Comparable as an institutional partner that integrates community-based psychosocial and education programming at scale.

Direct peers

• Playing for Change Foundation: Global non-profit that establishes music schools and programs for marginalized youth. Comparable in using music education as a vehicle for empowerment and community development across multiple countries.
• Artolution: Non-profit that facilitates collaborative art-making with communities affected by conflict, displacement, and inequality. Closely comparable in combining expressive arts with psychosocial support in refugee and conflict-zone settings.
• Musicians Without Borders: Netherlands-based non-profit that uses music to build peace and connection in post-conflict regions. Most directly comparable peer: also operates from the Netherlands, uses music-based methodology for trauma and social cohesion, and trains local facilitators in conflict-affected communities.
• Music Heals International: Non-profit bringing music therapy and music education to underserved communities globally. Comparable focus on capacity building through music in disadvantaged and trauma-affected populations.
• Music as Therapy International: UK-registered charity training caregivers worldwide to use music as a therapeutic tool. Directly comparable in offering capacity-building training rather than direct therapy, with a focus on equipping local staff.
• Big Noise (Sistema Scotland): Scottish music-for-social-change program using ensemble music-making to support children in disadvantaged communities. Comparable in using music education methodology for developmental and social outcomes, with intensive in-person training models.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/soundsofchange
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/soundsofchange
• Xx.com/soundsofchange_

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sounds of Change