All Within My Hands (AWMH), the philanthropic organization founded by the members and management of METALLICA, has unveiled the eighth year of its Metallica Scholars Initiative (MSI) — and it is the most ambitious round yet. The foundation is distributing more than $3.3 million in grants, its largest commitment to date, while taking the workforce-education program international for the first time.
Eighteen new U.S. schools are joining the MSI community, with 15 receiving $75,000 each and three receiving $50,000 toward equipment and training. That brings the total number of participating colleges to 93. In a landmark move, AWMH is also establishing MSI in the United Kingdom through a $250,000 grant to the Capital City College Group — the program's first chapter outside the United States.
The expansion is expected to reach roughly 4,000 new students in the U.S. and more than 1,000 learners in the U.K., totaling some 5,000 across both programs — a 40 percent increase. To date, the initiative has supported around 13,000 community-college students pursuing careers in the skilled trades, including welding, plumbing, electrical work, nursing, healthcare, optical systems, automotive repair, maritime manufacturing, firefighting, EMT certification, pipefitting and agricultural training.
"This thing started as a dream," said METALLICA frontman James Hetfield. "Now our program is changing lives, and supporting even more students is so rewarding." Dr. DeRionne P. Pollard added that the continued growth "demonstrates what's possible when visionary philanthropy and community colleges work together," while AWMH's Peter Delgrosso noted that "supporting people entering trades is the right thing to do, not just domestically, but also abroad."
The numbers underline how far METALLICA's charitable arm has come since its 2017 launch. Over those years, AWMH has channeled $19 million into career and technical education, $8.8 million toward fighting food insecurity, and $6.2 million into disaster relief — a record that has made the band one of the most consistently active philanthropic forces in heavy music. With MSI now crossing the Atlantic, that footprint is only set to grow.