Some leaders succumb to adversity, while others refuse to let it define them or shape their future. Instead, they emerge from every challenge stronger, more resolute, and determined not only to accomplish their dreams but also to impact the lives of others. Such leaders are the true catalysts of change in the world. Benjamin Barnes, CEO of Culture Scholar Corporation, is such a leader. He can be called a modern-day phoenix, who has risen from the ashes of adversities, poverty, trauma, addiction, and a catastrophic injury, to become a symbol of hope for many. He is now uplifting and transforming many people’s lives through music and creativity.
“When the people I serve gain knowledge, strength, peace, or inspiration, I know my leadership has value,” Benjamin says. For him, as a leader and educator, success means a deep sense of fulfillment from knowing his actions have had a positive, transformative impact on others’ lives.
Whether he is performing, teaching, or sharing his story, Benjamin does it to remind others that creativity is a powerful force for transformation.
The Path Leading to Culture Scholar
Benjamin was very young when he began performing and busking in the streets with his family. This experience not only taught him how to make music but also how to connect with people through it. He attended the San Francisco Conservatory of Music to study classical violin. Benjamin has also performed in a rock band that toured nationally and has collaborated with everyone from street musicians to members of Metallica. “I poured my soul into my art, believing in its power to heal, communicate, and transcend barriers,” he says.
Benjamin was still a student at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music when he began to seriously think of creating an impactful nonprofit. This idea began to take root because of his interactions with people after his violin performance.
At the time, along with practicing violin behind closed doors, Benjamin would play it on the streets, in nursing homes, in schools, in subways, and on stages. “Everywhere I went, I saw the emotional connection people made with the music,” he recalls. People would often stop Benjamin and say, “Your playing made my day,” or “I felt less lonely after hearing you.” Some even said they felt “spiritually and culturally reconnected.” He was deeply moved by their words. “I realized then that my art had value not just as entertainment — but as healing, as connection, as upliftment,” Benjamin says.
In the early 2000s, he formed a nonprofit, Rilke Art and Music Society, named after the poet Rainer Maria Rilke. He established it after seeing the impact that performances by the Rilke String Quartet, a band he co-founded, had on people across socio-economic boundaries.
“Unfortunately, my journey was interrupted by severe mental health challenges and economic instability due to disability,” Benjamin shares. “I had to put my ambitions aside.” However, he continued to bring music to rest homes, hospitals, recovery centers, and anywhere people were in need of beauty, joy, and connection. He couldn’t expand or sustain these performances due to a lack of funds. Eventually, he secured fiscal sponsorship, which helped him receive modest grants to support his mission.
Then in 2019, Benjamin began again in earnest to form a 501(c)(3). In 2021, he purchased the domain CultureScholar.org, and built a website from scratch, with the hope that one day, he would officially register the nonprofit and bring his mission to scale. “That breakthrough came when I received the San Francisco Arts Commission Artist Grant, which awarded me $20,000,” Benjamin says. “With that support, I finally had the means to legally establish Culture Scholar Corporation as a 501(c)(3).”
“My mission is deeply personal,” he adds. He has lived through mental illness, poverty, and the struggle to find meaning, and the art, he says, saved his life. “Now I’m using what I’ve learned to serve others, especially those who are often left behind,” Benjamin says.
A Brief Introduction to Culture Scholar
Culture Scholar helps people connect, heal, and thrive through the power of music, art, and cultural education. Benjamin says that they provide programs that address the loneliness epidemic, mental health challenges, addiction recovery, and cultural isolation, particularly among seniors, immigrants, and people in recovery.
“I see firsthand how music and art can uplift a soul, build community, and restore dignity,” he adds, “and I’ve built this organization to do just that.”
Culture Scholar’s music and art programs support emotional wellness and social connection. These programs are tailored to the specific needs of each population they serve. For example, in retirement rooms, Benjamin teaches music appreciation classes, and for immigrant communities, he has designed programs that use music and art to preserve identity, build confidence, and foster a sense of belonging.
“With individuals in addiction recovery, I use creativity to help rebuild self-worth, express difficult emotions, and create new, healing routines,” Benjamin says.
Music for Mental Health is one of Culture Scholar’s flagship initiatives. Benjamin uses music as a tool for emotional healing. He explains that this helps reduce depression, anxiety, and isolation. “I’ve seen how sharing music and stories opens people up, connects them to their emotions, and helps them feel less alone,” he adds.
Arts & Cultural Education is another offering of Culture Scholar. Benjamin teaches workshops that explore the roots and traditions of music and art from around the world. Additionally, he speaks in videos for his syndicated podcast segment, “The Coaches Corner”, on stages, and in classrooms about mental health, resilience through the arts, and how artists can become entrepreneurs.
Culture Scholar also produces community concerts, livestreams, and exhibitions that feature diverse voices and talents. Partnerships & Custom Programming is another key aspect of the organization. As part of this program, Benjamin consults with schools, care facilities, nonprofits, and community organizations to develop custom programs that combine music, education, and therapy.
Under Benjamin’s visionary leadership, Culture Scholar is becoming a platform for voices often excluded from institutional art spaces.
The Beginning from High School
For Benjamin, leading in the education space has been both “rewarding” and “humbling.” He started his journey by teaching music in high school. While giving lessons and mentoring peers, he realized that he had a gift not only for performance but also for helping others find their voice through music. “This planted a seed that would grow stronger, even during life’s most difficult trials,” Benjamin says.
One of the toughest moments of his life was his suicide attempt. Following that, Benjamin was struck by a train and sustained catastrophic injuries, including a shattered skull and a traumatic brain injury. “I lost the ability to play music,” he recalls. “For someone whose identity was so deeply tied to being a violinist, singer-songwriter, and performer, it felt like the end of everything I had ever known.”
Benjamin’s condition was so critical that doctors were not sure if he would survive. He endured multiple failed surgeries and spent years bandaged and broken. He also had to undergo a long series of operations to reconstruct his skills. During his recovery phase, he had lost all hopes of playing the violin or guitar again. “My fingers no longer moved the same way, my coordination was gone, and my brain was trying to heal from the inside out,” he says. “But something inside me refused to give up.”
Instead of pitying himself or resigning himself to his fate, Benjamin began volunteering in elementary and junior high classrooms and supporting students, teachers, and communities in need. He tapped into teaching to serve, connect, and find meaning again. And Benjamin returned to school himself. At the age of 42, he earned his Multiple Subjects Teaching Credential from San Francisco State University.
Eventually, Benjamin began to relearn how to play violin and guitar and write lyrics. It took him years to retrain his hands, rebuild his brain’s pathways, and reawaken his voice — literally and creatively. “Every note I play today is hard-won,” he says. “Every lesson I teach comes from lived experience — not just of music, but of resilience, empathy, and the will to live with purpose.”
“When I founded Culture Scholar Corporation, it was the culmination of everything I’d survived and everything I believed in: that the arts are powerful, healing, and essential,” Benjamin adds.
Learning from Challenges
Benjamin has learned several valuable lessons from his challenging life situations. One is that empathy is a superpower. He says that because he has known despair, he can recognize it in others, and he knows how to meet it with kindness and creativity.
Another key lesson he has learned is that resilience is a practice, not a personality trait. He explains that it is built one painful step at a time, often in silence, through small victories and acts of self-forgiveness.
Benjamin now sees art and education as sacred tools for healing. “When I couldn’t speak, I could still make music,” he recalls. “When I couldn’t perform, I could teach. Creativity gave me back my voice and my value.” And he now believes that leadership requires courage, not perfection.
“My challenges have refined me,” Benjamin says. “They’ve deepened my purpose, sharpened my vision, and made me a more compassionate leader.”
A Day in a CEO’s Life
As CEO of Culture Scholar Corporation and founder of Bencasso LLC, Benjamin wears multiple hats, often switching between artist, teacher, advocate, administrator, and street performer — all within a single day. His day is guided by a single purpose – to use music, art, and cultural education to uplift lives, especially those who are often forgotten or underserved.
“My work is an intricate balance of nonprofit leadership, creative production, teaching, healing, and survival,” Benjamin says. “I live every part of it with intention.”
Benjamin starts most of his morning by busking. He plays violin or guitar in public places, and his live performance is not for show. “I busk every day to fund the operations of my nonprofit and LLC, as well as to pay my own rent,” Benjamin explains. “It’s grassroots entrepreneurship in its rawest form.” He also performs to connect with people and raise awareness about his mission.
Benjamin’s day at work involves teaching music appreciation to seniors in retirement homes and mentoring students one-on-one — often youth or adults in recovery — through songwriting, violin, or voice. He designs and leads therapeutic arts programs for mental health clinics, schools, and community centers, writes grants, and builds partnerships to expand services and sustain their work. Recording and livestreaming content that combines educational storytelling with performance is also Benjamin’s responsibility.
Additionally, he manages day-to-day operations such as budgeting, communications, and strategic planning for both the nonprofit and LLC. He responds to emails, social media, and partner inquiries as well. And Benjamin is very much involved in the planning of future concerts, art exhibits, and workshops.
Vision and Plans for the Future
As the founder and CEO of Culture Scholar, Benjamin’s vision is to build a global model for culturally rooted, arts-based wellness and education, which reaches the most underserved individuals and communities, especially seniors, immigrants, people in recovery, and those living with mental illness. He also wants to make the healing power of music, art, and storytelling accessible and essential as medicine or shelter.
Under Benjamin’s leadership, the next phase of Culture Scholar’s growth includes expanding therapeutic arts programming. The plan is to increase their offerings in mental health clinics, retirement homes, hospitals, addiction recovery centers, and shelters. Benjamin’s focus is on creating structured programs that integrate music, visual art, creative writing, and movement, supported by trauma-informed facilitators.
He and his team are also developing a mobile culture well unit. It will be a traveling program featuring a mobile classroom and performance space. It aims to bring Culture Scholar’s services to rural, low-income, or underfunded areas across California and beyond. A robust digital platform is being designed as well. Benjamin explains that it will allow educators, caregivers, and community leaders to access downloadable lesson plans, streaming concerts, art therapy tools, and culturally responsive training resources.
Additionally, Benjamin is focused on building lasting partnerships with nonprofits, schools, public health organizations, senior living networks, and recovery programs. Through partnerships, he intends to co-develop programs, secure sustainable funding, and reach more people. Benjamin also aims to empower others by mentoring and spotlighting teaching artists, advocates, and performers with lived experience in trauma, recovery, and resilience.
“I didn’t start Culture Scholar to build a brand,” Benjamin says. “I started it to build a movement that recognizes art not as a luxury but as a human right, especially for those whose stories are often forgotten.” He believes that their future is bold, inclusive, and scalable.
Message to Aspiring Leaders
“Lead with your full humanity and be original” is Benjamin’s advice to aspiring education leaders and entrepreneurs. As he believes that the world does not need another polished voice chasing trends or chasing profits, he encourages them to be authentic, empathic, inspired individuals, leading from lived experience, purpose, and heart.
“Your story — especially the parts you’re tempted to hide — can become your greatest strength,” Benjamin says. “Your pain can become power. Your scars can become symbols of hope for others.”
