Ching-Yi currently serves as a board member and faculty of the Daraja Music Initiative (DMI). Each summer the DMI provides Tanzanian students with a unique interdisciplinary educational program that fuses music and conservation. In the summer of 2016, Ching-Yi initiated a beginning strings program for students of the Majengo Primary School and designed a curriculum for that program. Over 60 string instruments were donated from across the United States for this endeavor. The program offers college music majors an international opportunity to teach, inspire, and make an impact in a global classroom setting.

MISSION: The heart of the Daraja Music Initiative is to utilize music education for positive social change, engaging students and local communities with the power of music, teaching students to play instruments and empower them by providing a healthy, creative outlet that improves problem-solving skills and facilitates self-sufficiency. DMI provides an interdisciplinary approach to sustainability through music education, helping Tanzanians to better understand their environment and the issues that plague it. The Daraja Music Initiative fosters creative community collaborations with local organizations and provides non- traditional performance opportunities to build diverse audiences, emphasizing that music is for everyone regardless of socioeconomic status. — Katie Palmer, Executive Director of DMI