ABOUT LONG BEACH UNITY & SPIRIT OF PRAISE: The Mission of the Long Beach Unity Festival (LBUF) is to promote unity, reconciliation, and non-violence to diverse communities through music, the Arts, and healthy lifestyle initiatives. LBUF is a 501c3 organization founded in 1998 by its President & C.E.O. Steve Adams in the wake of the nation-wide violence and unrest resulting from the Rodney King incident to re-build trust, peace, and harmony in troubled communities. LBUF provides fiscal sponsorship to Spirit of Praise Sacred Artistry International. To date, the organization has grown to include a 5-member Board of Directors, an active 11-member Advisory Board, 2 full-time and 2 part-time employees, a volunteer operations staff of 25, 6 Interns, and more than 25 arts-industry professionals year-round; all working together to train over 1500 youth and adults annually in multiple genres of dance, theater, music, instrumentation, physical fitness, and positive community transformation to underserved children and their families. Since its inception nearly 20 years ago, LBUF has provided quality arts programming and inspiration to over 30,000 individuals while advancing the “unity in the community” narrative through afterschool arts enrichment programs (9 sites across the city of LB), youth basketball & mentoring initiatives, and the production of one of the largest Sacred Arts & Music Training Conferences (THE DANCER IN ME) on the West Coast for children and adults ages 6 years and up. LBUF continues to collaborate with Long Beach city officials, LB Unified School District, LB Parks/Recreation/Marine, LB Police Department, concerned citizens, and numerous social agencies to break barriers of race, religion, and culture proudly serving a diverse population comprised of Hispanic/Latinos (51%), African Americans (31%), Asian-Pacific Islanders (10%), and White/Caucasian (8%) across North, South, and West Long Beach respectively.