Tenisha Warner announced the launch of River & Ember and the Warner Family Foundation on Friday, nearly two months after her husband, actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner, died while on vacation in Costa Rica.
In an Instagram post, Tenisha Warner thanked supporters “for holding us in so much love during this tender time” and said the couple’s anniversary fell the next day. “For the first time, I’m sharing a glimpse of the love that began it all,” she wrote. “Today, in his honor, my daughter and I are launching River & Ember and officially opening The Warner Family Foundation.”
The foundation’s website describes a Creative Legacy Fund named for Warner that will provide scholarships for people ages 14 to 22, with the stated aim of “nurturing the next generation of artists.” Tenisha Warner, a clinical psychologist, also described River & Ember as a “seasonal digital” toolkit for parents and young children and said the project sprang from both her professional knowledge and her personal journey with grief.
“River & Ember began with two simple forces: the steady flow that carries us forward, and the quiet warmth that keeps us alive inside,” the accompanying statement read. “My husband embodied both. His presence was a river — steady, sure, and always moving toward what matters.” Tenisha Warner added that she could “still hear my husband’s laugh” and that together she and her daughter would “carry the legacy my husband and I began — one that nurtures children’s inner light and gives young artists the freedom to create outside the lines.”
Malcolm-Jamal Warner, 54, was best known for his role as Theodore Huxtable on The Cosby Show and received an Emmy nomination in 1986. He was also a poet and musician. Warner died after being swept away while swimming at Playa Grande in Cahuita, a village on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast. Authorities said he was pronounced dead at the scene and later ruled the death accidental asphyxiation by submersion.
Tenisha Warner has largely stayed out of the public eye during her marriage, and the Instagram post served as one of the first public confirmations of her identity and role as Warner’s widow; the actor never publicly shared her or their daughter’s name. In her statement, Tenisha Warner framed the new projects as continuations of values she and her husband shared, saying, “This is love, Still moving. Still making. Still carrying us forward.”
Pamela Warner, the actor’s mother, also issued a statement after his death that invoked water, saying her son was born “through the waters of my womb” and “transitioned through water” when he died. The Warner Family Foundation and River & Ember will be the first public initiatives tied to Warner’s legacy since his death, aiming to support young artists and family-focused creative resources.
Warner’s death prompted an outpouring of tributes from fans and colleagues in the entertainment community. The foundation’s scholarship fund and River & Ember’s resources are expected to be the primary public outlets for the family’s ongoing work; specific application details and timelines for the Creative Legacy Fund were posted on the foundation’s website.