Who we are
who we are
Jason Grant Shela MBE FRSA MA
Jason was born in London, England. He came to New York in 1990 having received an international scholarship and graduated from Baruch College, Magna cum laude in Business Administration. He later earned his graduate degree from New York University, where he specialized in International Relations. For over 30 years, Jason has been dedicated to the development of Youth Sports, Music & Arts programs.
A sports enthusiast, Jason founded and serves as coaching director of the British Soccer Academy. He coached the Hunter Middle School Boys & Girls Teams to the New York City Championship and multiple uptown divisional championships. He also created a unique adaptive soccer, basketball, and fitness program for youth and adults with physical, sight-impaired and intellectual disabilities, and his programs have served thousands of children. Jason was awarded the MBE (Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) from Queen Elizabeth II for his services to youth soccer education and work with youth with disabilities in the 2019 New Year’s Honors List.
A musician and artist, Jason is an ASCAP award winning musical composer and has produced for FSC & HBO TV Channels. He serves as Creative Director and is the founder of My Generation Theater, the performing arts division of The Joseph Skakun Project, a creative non-profit which is focused on preserving history and heritage through the performing arts. Jason directed the audio sitcoms of “Bless this House” & “Never Mind the Quality,” based on the Classic British TV comedies scripted by his mentor Vince Powell, the Godfather of British Comedy. Over the years, he has produced a wide range of live events for charity. One such event was The British Music & Theater Festival, celebrating the best of British music, comedy and culture. Jason initiated the Mississippi Goodwill Music Project to raise funds for local projects.
Jason has also been an educational advisor and college guidance expert for many years and is the founder of the International Educational Advisory Program, which mentors outstanding students in the USA & Overseas in their School and College Search. Currently, Jason lives in New York City with his wife and three children.
Jared Sais
Jared, the co-founder of Rock U and CEO/ Founder of Wiz+Kid Tutoring, has long championed the importance of music and the arts in crafting a comprehensive education for students. With the unfortunate trend of schools cutting funding for these programs, there’s a growing demand for initiatives like Rock U. Despite facing challenges due to dyslexia, Jared’s ability to play music by ear has driven his passion to establish Rock U alongside Jason and Max, aiming to ignite a love for music in others.
Max Ventura
Max Ventura is a composer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer. He was raised on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. He began piano lessons at age seven in the Bloomingdale School of Music. At age 11, he began attending Wagner Middle School, and joined its symphonic band on clarinet. Around this time, he began to write his own music, and began to teach himself guitar. In 2009, he was accepted into LaGuardia High School, and attended as a clarinetist. Joining the jazz band and pit orchestras, he entered the world of doubling, adding saxophone and flute to his arsenal. He attended Case Western Reserve University, where he studied Music Performance under Greg Banaszak — a well-known American jazz and orchestral saxophonist, and Paul Ferguson — composer and director of the Cleveland Jazz Orchestra.
For his Senior Capstone project, Max decided to venture into territory that was familiar to him, but that he learned had very little research on — musical versatility. Specifically, versatility in both the instruments and the styles of music one expresses themself through. He set out to collect numerous studies on music and psychology, and pieced together his own meta-analysis on the science — namely, the psychology — behind the versatile musician. He called his thesis “Recognizing the Versatile Musician.” The lack of research even further inspired his proposal that this style of musicianship become more integrated into conventional music education. He paired his thesis with his own recital, featuring original compositions of varying genres, and performed on a variety of instruments.
Outward growth is something Max values deeply, as it reflects his — and he feels many others’ — innate desire to integrate various worlds into oneself, breaking the boundaries of identity and expanding in all directions of interest. He wants to encourage others to explore whatever resonates with them, without judgement. It is in a place of least resistance, where self-actualization and creativity blooms.
Ben Rubie
Ben Rubie is a violinist, composer and undergraduate junior majoring in jazz performance at NYU. Ben has grown up in New York City playing and studying with jazz musicians such as Orrin Evans, Aaron Parks, Micah Thomas, Lenny White, Adam Rodgers and Alex Wintz. He studied privately with classical violinists Lynell Smith, Roberta Guaspari and Charlene Bishop under the Opus 118 program in Harlem and attended Jazz at Lincoln Center middle school and highschool under the direction of Eli Yamin and the NJPAC Jazz for teens program lead by Mark Gross. Ben has played at Carnegie Hall, Symphony Space, NJPAC and Rudy Van Gelder Studios. He has opened for John Faddis and performed alongside the Mingus Dynasty, Regina Carter, Roy Ayres and worked with Savion Glover. Ben is a two time winner of the Billy Strayhorn award, a three time national YoungArts award winner, Virtu Scholarship recipient and is on a full scholarship attending NYU.