The Marnie Knaak Music & Resilience Foundation (MKMRF) is Central Texas’s first trauma-informed music education and resilience program. We provide children and families with access to healing through music — using evidence-based practices that promote emotional regulation, resilience, and connection.
Founded in 2025 by guitarist Will Knaak, veteran entrepreneur Liz Joshua, and a dedicated board, the foundation honors the legacy of Marnie Knaak, who believed music could open doors of healing for all.
🎶 Our Mission: To give every child the chance to heal, connect, and thrive through music.
🔑 Our Approach: Trauma-informed teaching, community workshops, family resilience programs, and access to instruments.
💛 Our Vision: A future where no child’s potential is silenced by trauma.
APA - “The Transformative Power of Music in Mental Well-Being”
NYU News — “How Music Can Help Heal Trauma and Connect Communities”
Vanderbilt University Medical Center — “Patients’ Family Experiences Healing Power of Music”
VA (Veterans Affairs) News — “Music therapy reduces stress for Veterans”
BU / Boston Children’s Hospital — “Alum Creates Music as a Healing Tool for Young Patients”
Frontiers in Psychology — “A study on music therapy aimed at psychological trauma” (2024)
Advocacy & Stories
“Music therapy has shown promise … in healing trauma and building resilience while decreasing anxiety.”
Research / Evidence Supporting the Link
Emotional resilience & well-being: A 2025 article reports that music therapy is effective at enhancing emotional resilience, improving well-being, and aiding in personal development. PMC
Trauma recovery: The 2024 Frontiers study (above) demonstrates that music therapy interventions help repair psychological trauma in bereaved families. Frontiers
Mechanisms / Brain & Emotion: An article from Ohio University explains that music therapy “harnesses the power of music to stimulate various regions of the brain, facilitating emotional, cognitive, and physical healing.” Ohio University
Youth & trauma scholarship: A paper in Frontiers in Psychology discusses how music therapy helps bypass limited cognitive processing (i.e. when trauma overwhelms verbal narrative), offering a “strengths-based orientation” for youth. Frontiers
Coping & personality: Another study examines how individuals use music to cope and how personality traits interact with that coping. PMC
“Music therapy harnesses the power of music to stimulate various regions of the brain, facilitating emotional, cognitive, and physical healing.”
Will Knaak, Co-Founder & Vice President
