Mission: UNITY CHARITY IS A NATIONAL NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION THAT USES HIP HOP ART FORMS TO PROMOTE RESILIENCE AND WELL-BEING AMONG UNDESERVED YOUTH, CREATING HEALTHIER COMMUNITIES

Vision: YOUTH WHO REACH THEIR FULL POTENTIAL AND CONTRIBUTE TO HEALTHIER COMMUNITIES.

Unity is a national non-profit organization that helps underserved youth develop resilience through Hip Hop-based programming, and provides development and employment opportunities to young emerging Hip Hop artists from across Canada. Unity works to achieve its vision of youth who reach their full potential and contribute to healthier communities by delivering long-term Hip Hop-based programming, workshops and performances that support the development of protective factors, helping them to reach healthy resilience and wellness outcomes and build meaningful relationships in their communities with mentors and peers. Unity’s programs also support the development of creative, entrepreneurial and professional skills among Canadian Hip Hop artists, leading to a more diversified creative community and workforce in the cultural sector.

Unity's programming includes:

INSPIRE Programs: free, educational, short-term initiatives, performances, events, and workshops that inform young audiences about Hip Hop art forms and their power to positively express stress and anxiety. Unity reaches more than 30,000 youth annually through our Inspire programs delivered across the country.

ENGAGE Programs: weekly, long-term initiatives (12-14 weeks) offered in partnership with more than 35 educational institutions, community and arts organizations across Canada and makes up the bulk of Unity’s youth-focused Hip Hop meets mental health education. Youth improve mental health and well-being outcomes and are given significant roles in mentorship, performance, evaluation, and volunteering so they may contribute to the well-being of their communities. Unity reaches more than 1,500 youth annually through long-term ENGAGE programs delivered across Canada.

EMPOWER Opportunities: Unity seeks to empower youth and emerging Hip Hop artists by providing employment, professional development, volunteer and leadership opportunities to further support their development. Unity’s primary EMPOWER opportunity is our artist roster, a front-line team of over 70 Hip Hop artists that deliver all of our INSPIRE and ENGAGE programs across Canada, with many artists recruited from Unity’s ENGAGE programs.

Effects of COVID-19

Responding to the deteriorating mental health and social isolation of youth and young artists as a result of Covid-19, Unity pivoted its work online in April 2020 and launched online adaptations of its programming. Since then, Unity has delivered more than 200 online workshops and events for more than 2,000 youth and emerging artists across Canada.

Program evaluations during this time have showed that:

86% of youth ENGAGE participants are feeling more connected to others

80% of youth ENGAGE participants felt less stressed after attending programs

89% of youth ENAGE participants were able to work on goals through art

92% of artists agree that the EMPOWER program strengthened their creative practice, facilitation and performance skills

80% of artists agree that the EMPOWER program provided opportunities for collaboration and growth of creative and professional networks

The Unity Team

Unity approaches diversity and representation as a moving target--as our programming practices grow and our work takes us into relationships with new communities and groups, so too should our makeup evolve. We hire and recruit with a commitment to representation, thus remaining well-positioned to provide the most inclusive experiences that we can for our audiences, participants, partners and team.

Currently, our board of directors benefits greatly from the perspectives of former program youth, community support allies, and professional Hip Hop Artists. 47% of Unity’s Board Members identify as women, while 80% of Board Members bring their lived experiences from Black communities and communities of Colour, in addition to the multitude of other valuable skills and perspectives they generously offer. Based on a recent survey of its staff and artists, Unity also found that over 90% of its staff and artists self-identified as coming from Black, Indigenous and Communities of Colour, practiced an average of two Hip Hop art forms, and nearly 70% were between the ages of 18-30. As Unity continues to commit to mirroring the communities it serves, it aims to address gender disparity within Hip Hop artists as its current roster reflects an approximate 40:60 ratio towards male-identified artists. This statistic is reversed in Unity’s staff and leadership team, however. Not only does Unity have more female-identified leaders, Unity’s senior leadership includes three multi-generational Hip Hop artists with a combined experience of nearly 40 years in the art forms.