September 14, 2025
The Warner Family Foundation will seek to honor the creative spirit of Malcolm-Jamal Warner through the Malcolm-Jamal Warner Creative Legacy Fund.
Tenisha Warner, the widow of actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who tragically died in a drowning accident in Costa Rica almost two months ago, announced the formation of a new foundation in his memory via an Instagram post on Sept. 12.
According to Complex, Warner noted in her post that the day after that date would have been the couple’s eighth wedding anniversary, and she also announced that she and her daughter would be launching two initiatives, River & Ember, and the Malcolm-Jamal Warner Foundation.
“Thank you for holding us in so much love during this tender time,” Warner wrote. “Tomorrow marks our anniversary — and my heart is wide open. For the first time, I’m sharing a glimpse of the love that began it all.”
She continued, “I can still hear my husband’s laugh, still feel the way he made room for every part of me — every tear, every dream…His presence was a river — steady, sure, and always moving toward what matters,” the message read. “His spirit was an ember — glowing with encouragement, igniting possibility in those around him.”
According to the River & Ember website, the first of several seasonal toolkits will be launched during Spring 2026, and the toolkits themselves “invite families to connect through story, ritual, and art — simple practices that nurture a child’s emotional rhythm, strengthen their capacity to meet life, and deepen the bond between parent and child.”
There will also be a companion app that will launch in the future, the River & Ember app is the rare app that is designed to be used simultaneously by both parents and their children, as the website lays out.
“Most apps are made for adults. Some for children. Rarely for both — and almost never for the sacred relationship between them. River & Ember is different: a quiet digital hearth where parent and child can share one story, one ritual, one quiet moment. Not screen time. Sacred time,” the website states.
The Warner Family Foundation, meanwhile, will seek to honor the creative spirit of Malcolm-Jamal Warner through the Malcolm-Jamal Warner Creative Legacy Fund, which the website notes “exists to honor his truth by nurturing the next generation of poets, painters, musicians, performers, and interdisciplinary creators whose work carries courage, freedom, and authenticity.”
The guiding principles of the Creative Legacy Fund are freedom, originality, an interdisciplinary lens, and legacy, which the website notes is considered a gift to future generations, including Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s own daughter.
Per the website, “The Malcolm-Jamal Warner Creative Legacy Scholarship is open to young artists ages 14–22 whose work reflects an interdisciplinary spirit. Just as Malcolm was an actor, poet, and musician, we believe art often lives in more than one form. We welcome creators who cross boundaries — poets who paint, musicians who write, actors who cook — and all those who seek the freedom to explore their artistry without limits.”
According to Warner, the River and Ember toolkits are deeply inspired by her relationship with her late husband.
“When I met my husband, I found someone who understood that journey. He had been taught — especially as a man — to keep his feelings hidden. Together we discovered that what we both needed was simple, but rare: to be fully seen. To have someone say, ‘your feelings belong here.’ To be held by someone who loves your tears, who sees them as strength, not weakness; where nothing inside you is ‘too much.’ We found that in each other–a safe space for vulnerability.”
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