Meet UNITY Charity and the Crossword Mentorship Program

We’re delighted to be working with UNITY Charity to deliver a new mentorship program for emerging spoken word poets this summer.

UNITY is a national charity based in Toronto that helps underserved youth develop resilience through free Hip Hop-based programs, and provides development and employment opportunities to young, emerging Hip Hop artists across Canada.

Hip Hop art forms, including Graffiti, MCing and Breaking, are often overlooked for funding, recognition and infrastructure support. UNITY partners with municipal, provincial and federal government agencies and arts councils, school boards, private funding partners and local arts and youth organizations across Canada to deliver their signature Hip Hop-based programming, workshops and performances.

Work in Culture and Unity Charity logos

We are currently working in partnership with UNITY to deliver Crossword, a free, incubator-style mentorship program designed to support young, emerging Spoken Word poets in developing their creative and business skills.

Running from June to September, Crossword provides mentorship, resources and guidance on how to take your craft to the next level, develop an entrepreneurial mindset, and earn a living through poetry.

Weekly workshops cover career pathways and transferable workplace skills in the creative industries, with each workshop delivered by active industry professionals who provide mentorship and career guidance both during and outside of program hours.

Participants in the 2024 Crossword program pose for a photograph with program coordinator David Delisca from Unity Charity and Diane Davy and Stephanie Draker from Work in Culture. Photo credit: Unity Charity
Photo credit: UNITY Charity

13 emerging GTA-based Hip Hop artists aged 16 to 29 who practice Spoken Word/Poetry are participating in this pilot program.

Crossword participants recently had the chance to showcase their skills at the 16th annual Unity Fest on July 20 at Harbourfront Centre, delivering power-packed performances to the over 7,500 festival attendees!

We’ll be sharing more information about Crossword’s impacts as the program continues, but if you have any immediate questions please just drop us a line and we’ll be in touch.

For program inquiries, please contact:

Clinton Ghosh
Program Director
UNITY
[email protected]

David Delisca
Program Coordinator
UNITY
[email protected]

For media inquiries, please contact:

Arjun Raj
Marketing and Communications Manager
UNITY
[email protected]