UNITY Charity

What UNITY Charity does

UNITY Charity is a Toronto-based Canadian registered charity (founded 2007 by Michael Prosserman, also known as Bboy Piecez) that builds resilience and well-being among youth aged 13–29 through free Hip Hop arts programs. The organization operates a three-tiered program architecture — INSPIRE (short-term school-based outreach including Unity Weeks and in-class workshops), ENGAGE (weekly drop-in and registered community programs delivered in partnership with 30+ community organizations across Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Manitoba), and EMPOWER (artist career development via the Unity Artist Network and Artist Facilitator roster) — combined with a proprietary Hip Hop Meets Mental Health Resilience framework that measures outcomes (stress management, sense of belonging, employability skills) via pre/post surveys. Supporting products include UNITY Studio (Toronto creative rental space at 1560 Yonge St), Unity Fest (annual national Hip Hop festival in its 19th year attracting 10,000+ attendees), The MB Source Virtual Hip Hop Programs, the Nova Scotia Street Dance Incubator, and a merchandise store.

UNITY Charity operates as a non-profit and does not charge youth for any of its core programs. The organization monetizes through a diversified mix of individual donations, government grants (City of Toronto, Government of Canada, Ontario Trillium Foundation, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, Mental Health Foundation of Nova Scotia), corporate sponsorships (TD Ready Commitment, RBC Foundation, Sun Life, Mackenzie Investments, Red Bull Canada, Scotiabank), paid B2B services via Book UNITY (Collab & Flow team building, school programs, event performances/hosting/DJing), facility rental at UNITY Studio ($100/hr community, $125/hr commercial, also listed on Giggster, Peerspace, and Tag Venue), and made-on-demand branded merchandise ($40–$60 CAD). Go-to-market is community-led through school partnerships, community organizations, and events, with a secondary event-driven motion anchored by Unity Fest. Since founding, the organization reports positively impacting over 500,000 lives and in 2023–24 served 5,023 youth across 25 schools and 2,957+ across 34 programs, with 96% of participants gaining resilience and 97% reporting a sense of belonging.

Name

UNITY Charity

Legal name

Unity Charity

Website

https://unitycharity.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2007

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

UNITY Charity is a Toronto-based Canadian registered charity founded in 2007 that delivers free Hip Hop arts programs — INSPIRE, ENGAGE, and EMPOWER — to build resilience and well-being among underserved youth aged 13–29 across Ontario, Nova Scotia, Manitoba, and nationwide via virtual programming.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Arts Education and Mental Health Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Civic and Social Organizations (8134)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Sports & Recreation Clubs (7997)

akta.pro primary industry

Arts, Sports & Recreation-Based Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAJ)

akta.pro secondary industries

Youth Mental Health, Counseling & Wellbeing (Education-Linked) Nonprofits (BPAGADAK), After-School, Tutoring & Academic Enrichment Nonprofits (BPAGADAC)

Keywords

• Youth mental health services
• Hip hop arts education
• Nonprofit youth programs
• Community arts workshops
• Corporate team building

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: Individual donations from the public, with proceeds supporting free Hip Hop programs for underserved youth. Donations can be made through the website.
2. Government and Foundation Grants: Funding from municipal, provincial, and federal government agencies including City of Toronto, Government of Canada, Ontario Trillium Foundation, Canada Council for the Arts, Ontario Arts Council, and mental health foundations.
3. Corporate Sponsorships and Partnerships: Sponsorships from corporations including TD Ready Commitment, RBC Foundation, Sun Life, Mackenzie Investments, Red Bull Canada, and Scotiabank for events and programs.
4. B2B Workshop Services: Paid team building workshops (Collab & Flow), school programs, and event services including performances, hosting, and DJing for corporate clients and educational institutions.
5. Unity Studio Rental: Rental revenue from Unity Studio space at 1560 Yonge St. Studios available at $100/hour (community rate, 3-hour minimum) or $125/hour for commercial shoots. Includes dance studio, work studio, and breakout rooms with AV equipment.
6. Merchandise Sales: Sale of branded merchandise including Unity T-Shirts ($40 CAD), Crewnecks ($60 CAD), and Snapback hats ($50 CAD). All proceeds support free youth programs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels7 records

Marketing channels11 records

Core offering

UNITY Charity delivers free Hip Hop arts programs (Beat Production, DJing, Breaking, Spoken Word, Rap, Graffiti) to underserved youth aged 13-29 across Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Manitoba, plus virtual programs nationwide, using an INSPIRE-ENGAGE-EMPOWER framework to build resilience and mental health. The organization also operates paid B2B offerings including corporate team-building workshops, school assembly and in-class programs, event performance services, Unity Studio rentals, and branded merchandise, all of which help fund the free youth programs.

Product overview

UNITY Charity operates as a non-profit platform offering a three-tiered program structure: Inspire (short-term school-based outreach including Unity Weeks with assemblies and 8-workshop Hip Hop programs), Engage (ongoing weekly community programs in dance, beatmaking, spoken word, DJing, and graffiti), and Empower (artist career development through the Unity Artist Network and Artist Facilitator employment). Supporting these core programs are UNITY Studio (a Toronto-based creative rental space), Unity Fest (annual national Hip Hop festival in its 19th year), virtual programming (The MB Source Virtual Hip Hop Programs with device/internet provision), the Nova Scotia Street Dance Incubator, Book UNITY (corporate and school workshop/services bookings), and a merchandise store. All core programs are free for youth aged 13-29.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• UNITY Studio: A creative rental space for movement and wellness workshops, content creation, auditions, sessions, classes, trainings, meetings and group discussions. Located at 1560 Yonge St #204, Toronto.

Products and services

• Inspire Program

Quantifiable outcome

• 81% of participants learned how Hip Hop helps manage stress, understand emotions, and resolve conflict
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered strategic, supportive and core.

• Breaking CanadastrategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 November 2024Partnership to research and address challenges in the Canadian breaking sector, resulting in the 'Breaking Barriers' research report launched November 25, 2024.
• Flourish Wellbeing SassstrategicStrategic or Co-development Partner · 25 November 2024Research partner in the Breaking Barriers initiative examining challenges and barriers in Canada's breaking community, including funding gaps, community support, geography, and diversity/inclusion issues.
• Work In CulturesupportiveStrategic or Co-development PartnerArts service organization providing subsidized memberships and resources to Unity artists.
• Graffiti Arts ProgrammingcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to deliver The MB Source Virtual Hip Hop Programs providing digital devices, internet subsidy, and online Hip Hop programming directly to youth households.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• The Remix Project: Toronto-based nonprofit that mentors young people from marginalized communities into creative industries using arts, music, and culture; directly comparable to UNITY's EMPOWER tier and use of Hip Hop culture as a youth development vehicle.
• JAYU Arts: Canadian nonprofit using arts to advance human rights and equity education, including youth-focused programming; comparable as a Canadian arts-meets-social-impact nonprofit with school and community delivery.
• 826 National: US nonprofit network supporting writing and arts education for underserved youth ages 6-18; closely comparable mission, school-based delivery model, and reliance on a network of partner organizations and artist-educators.
• Manifesto Community Projects: Canadian youth-focused nonprofit combining arts, hip hop culture, and community engagement; comparable audience (racialized and equity-deserving youth) and arts-based program methodology.
• ArtStarts in Schools: Vancouver-based charity bringing professional artists into schools for young people; directly comparable school-based arts programming model and funder base (arts councils, foundations).

Broad incumbents

• Kids Help Phone: Canada's largest youth mental health service provider; competes for the same federal/provincial mental health funding pool and youth audience, though without UNITY's arts-based methodology.
• Boys & Girls Clubs of Canada: National network delivering after-school youth development programs across Canada; comparable youth development positioning and corporate sponsorship base (TD, RBC), though much broader in scope.
• YWCA Canada: National federation serving women, girls, and gender-diverse people including youth mental health and equity programs; competes for similar federal grants and serves overlapping equity-deserving youth populations.

Regional players

• Artscape: Toronto-based nonprofit operating creative space rentals and community cultural programming; comparable Unity Studio rental operations and downtown-Toronto creative real estate footprint.

Emerging players

• DREAM (Defying Expectations in Mathematics and Movement): US nonprofit combining dance with STEM learning for underserved youth; comparable as an arts-meets-youth-development nonprofit applying structured evaluation methodology to measure youth outcomes.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/unitycharity
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@unitycharity
• Facebookfacebook.com/unitycharity
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/unity-charity
• Instagraminstagram.com/unitycharity
• TikToktiktok.com/@unitycharity

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about UNITY Charity