Janine Irons

Janine Irons MBE is the co-founder/CEO of Tomorrow's Warriors, the pioneering, black-led talent incubator, music educator, creative producer and charity that has changed the face of jazz in the UK through a relentless commitment to nurturing young black talent and female musicians and developing diverse audiences.

Over 30 years Tomorrow’s Warriors has proved a crucial development platform for many of the artists now lighting up the international jazz scene – Moses Boyd, Nubya Garcia, Cassie Kinoshi, Nérija, Femi Koleoso, Ezra Collective, Shabaka Hutchings and Sons Of Kemet, Binker Golding, CHERISE, Denys Baptiste, ESKA, Soweto Kinch, Zara McFarlane and so many more.

As arts leader and consultant, Janine is a passionate advocate of excellence, authentic diversity and inclusive approaches in the design and delivery of music education and the presentation of black music. She is an experienced creative producer who also founded and ran the award-winning jazz record label, Dune Records from 1997-2012 alongside acting as manager/agent to several UK jazz artists including Jazz Jamaica, Denys Baptiste, and Soweto Kinch.

Janine was awarded the MBE for Services to the Music Industry in HM The Queen’s Birthday Honours in 2006. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and, in 2019, was recognised for her work in the Alternative Power 100 Music List, an honours list established by SheSaid.So, a global network of women in the music industry, as a response to Billboard’s Power 100 List with the aim to challenge conventional music industry standards.

In 2020 Janine received a Music Week Women In Music Award and was inducted into the Roll of Honour that highlights individuals who are game-changers in the industry.
In 2021, with Gary Crosby, she was the recipient, of the Music Producer’s Guild Inspiration Award and the Jazz FM special Impact Award (for Tomorrow’s Warriors) in recognition of three successful decades of inspirational leadership in the music industry.