In his philanthropic activities, Studzinski focuses primarily on
the arts and creative industries,
human rights and
homelessness. He consistently emphasises the importance of human dignity and the role in philanthropy of mentoring and active networks. In 2008, he was awarded a
CBE for his Services to the Arts and Charity and he has received a number of other awards for his philanthropic activities.
Arts Genesis Foundation In 2001 Studzinski established the
Genesis Foundation, a UK-registered
charity. It supports and nurtures outstanding artists and creative professionals, especially in the early stages of careers in music, theatre, and the visual arts. The Genesis Foundation has supported thousands of artists with funding totalling more than £22 million. The Foundation mainly operates through partnerships with leading British arts organisations such as the
Almeida Theatre,
National Theatre,
Royal Court Theatre,
The Sixteen,
Jewish Literary Foundation and
Royal Academy of Arts. The programmes funded by the Genesis Foundation train and mentor early and mid-career artists in playwriting, the creation of music theatre, directing, singing, conducting, theatre design, art curation and the writing of fiction and non-fiction. While its core funding is devoted to training programmes that equip emerging artists for life as a creative professional, the Genesis Foundation is also the UK's largest commissioner of sacred music, having commissioned 30 new choral works to date. Among these is
James MacMillan's
Stabat mater, a 60-minute work for choir and string
orchestra commissioned by the Genesis Foundation and premiered by
Harry Christophers,
The Sixteen and
Britten Sinfonia at the
Barbican Centre,
London in October 2016. The
Stabat mater has been described as a masterpiece and the recording of the work has won numerous awards. In April 2018 a performance of MacMillan's Stabat mater, presented by the Genesis Foundation, became the first concert to be live-streamed from the
Sistine Chapel in the
Vatican. The work subsequently received its US premiere in
New York at
Lincoln Center's
Alice Tully Hall (November 2019), again with
Harry Christophers conducting
The Sixteen. In October 2022, the Genesis Foundation presented the concert A Tribute to the Life and Reign of
Elizabeth II: A Garland for the Queen in the
Chapel Royal of St Peter ad Vincula at the
Tower of London. The performers were once again
Harry Christophers and
The Sixteen, and the programme included the Genesis Foundation's 30th choral commission,
Cecilia McDowall's 'O Lord, Make Thy Servant, Elizabeth'. In addition to the invited audience at the Tower of London, the concert reached a large global audience via a live-stream hosted by
Classic FM. Each major concert organised by the Genesis Foundation since 2016 has been live-streamed in this way. In 2020, the Genesis Foundation launched two initiatives prompted by the pandemic: firstly, the £100,000 Covid-19 Artists Fund, an emergency response to help freelance creative professionals facing hardship caused by the lockdowns and, secondly the £1million Genesis Kickstart Fund to provide grants for future-facing arts projects across the UK. When launching the Kickstart fund, Studzinski said: "Covid-19 has changed the world for all of us, and at this crucial juncture we cannot afford to risk losing a whole generation of outstanding creative talent through lack of opportunity. The pandemic has jeopardised the current livelihoods and long-term careers of both young and established professionals in the arts, with freelancers especially adversely affected. The Genesis Foundation's new £1million fund will engender vital new opportunities for creative professionals through paid work on exciting, innovative and well-structured projects." The Genesis Kickstart Fund funded 95 new creative projects involving 1,000 freelance creative professionals and ran from 2021 to March 2023. Inaugurated in 2012, the Genesis Foundation Prize is a £25,000 prize awarded bi-annually to a mentor whose work has effected real change in the practice and careers of arts professionals. Its 2022 recipient was George Turvey, Artistic Director of the award-winning Papatango Theatre Company. Since 2001, Genesis Foundation initiatives have also included the Genesis Opera Project (Aldeburgh/Almeida), the
Royal Court Theatre's International Playwrights Programme, Genesis
LAMDA Scholarships and LAMDA Network, and playwriting residencies at
New York's
Signature Theatre. The Foundation was the sole sponsor of two major London exhibitions,
Living with gods at the
British Museum in 2017, and
Michelangelo/Bill Viola at the
Royal Academy in 2019.
The homeless The Financial Times has called Studzinski a "champion of homeless charity work in London". a partnership between
Business in the Community (BITC), major companies, homeless agencies, and the
British government. The organisation works to change the perceptions companies have of homelessness and helps homeless people back into employment. In 2022, at the 40th anniversary of the founding of Business in the Community, Studzinski was named a Fellow of BITC for his leadership of Business Action on Homelessness and his work in support of the former
Prince of Wales' Seeing is Believing programme.
Human rights Now vice chair emeritus of
Human Rights Watch, Studzinski was an active board member of the NGO for 18 years, running its investment, audit and fundraising committees and establishing its operations in Europe, India, and Japan. He has stated that his involvement in Human Rights Watch is an extension of his strong belief in "respect for humanity, justice and dignity. Human dignity, the respect for human life and dignity". which combats slavery and human trafficking on the front line around the world. In 2020 he stepped down from chairing the charity to become its Founding President. From 2016 to 2020, Studzinski served as a non-executive director at the
UK government's
Home Office, covering audit, risk and compliance, modern slavery and supply-chain transparency, and acted as co-chair of the Business Against Slavery Forum, a UK Government initiative.
Additional adviserships In the US, Studzinski serves on the boards of the
J. Paul Getty Trust and the American Associates of the Saint Catherine Foundation. In the UK he has been chairman of Benjamin Franklin House Museum since 2008 and in 2018 he endowed the £2million Chair of Innovation at the
Royal College of Art, where he served from 2011 to 2020 as a Council member. From 2009 to 2020 he was Chair of Create London, a charity which works with artists to realise new social enterprises, charities and cultural spaces in some of the UK's most deprived communities. Over three terms on the board of the
Tate (1998-2007), Studzinski participated in the conceptualisation of both Tate Modern 1 and Tate Modern 2, and in fundraising and building projects. Over four decades he donated some £8 million to the Tate.
Other activities Studzinski supports the Princess Royal Coaching Academy, an initiative launched in 2021 by the
Riding for the Disabled Association, of which the
Princess Royal is Patron. It aims to increase learning opportunities for coaches working with disabled horse riders and carriage drivers in the UK. From 2013 to 2016, Studzinski was president of the American Friends of
The Royal Foundation of
The Duke and
Duchess of Cambridge and
Prince Harry. In 2024, Studzinski was installed as the next Chancellor of
Leeds Trinity University. The university stated that Studzinski's "values and focus on social justice align completely with those of the University." The Chancellor of Leeds Trinity performs a ceremonial role, acting as a key ambassador for the University with one of the key responsibilities being the conferment of degrees at graduation ceremonies. ==Honors==