About Us

OUR VISION

We envision a world where Hip Hop is embraced as an integral tool in educational, clinical, and therapeutic settings to unlock the proven benefits of creative self-expression.

OUR MISSION

We develop inclusive, accessible arts education rooted in Hip Hop culture. Through our programming, clinical research, and professional development, we champion Hip Hop as a dynamic tool in improving physical and mental wellbeing.

HOW WE WORK

BEAT Rockers, BEAT Breakers, and BEAT Explorers program icon circles in a triangle orientation. BEAT Rockers' icon is a pink and white microphone on yellow background. BEAT Breakers' icon is a teal Bboy in a pose on a purple background. BEAT Explorers' icon is a green and white triangular mixing board on a light brown background.
Arts Education

We offer arts education programs rooted in Hip Hop culture to youth in under-resourced communities and to people with disabilities.

VALUES:

Belonging & Inclusion

Creative Self-Expression

Preservation

Life Skill Development

Purple cartoon magnifying glass with a pink arrow on yellow background inside the lens. The arrow is pointing up.
Clinical Research
Informed by observations of our programs, we conduct clinical research on the efficacy of Hip Hop as a pathway to physical and mental wellbeing.

VALUES:

Evidence-based

Solution Building

Purple, yellow, pink, and green hand prints in a circle with the fingers facing out.
Training & Tools
Based on our research, we train professionals across industries to use Hip Hop as a tool to advance clinical and health practices.

VALUES:

Innovation

Validation

Advancement

VALUES

Belonging & Inclusion

Creative Self-Expression

Preservation

Life Skill Development

VALUES

Evidence-based

Solution Building

VALUES

Innovation

Validation

Advancement

WHO WE ARE

Young boy strikes a Bboy pose on a concrete floor, while two people stand to the left, and another boy dances on the floor on the right.
BEAT Teaching Artists sits behind a lap top and keyboard, clapping their hands, while a student beatboxes into a microphone and other students clap.

We are BEAT. Bridging Education & Art Together. ‍

In the service of the Hip Hop principle of “Each One, Teach One”—BEAT’s original mission, established in 2009, was to preserve authentic Hip Hop culture and to teach young people how to leverage Hip Hop and creative self-expression to give them the tools to better advocate for themselves and their needs. BEAT quickly became a leader in New York City schools providing quality arts based education rooted in Hip Hop.

After a decade of programming in public schools, libraries, therapeutic settings, hospitals, and even refugee camps, BEAT’s instructors began to realize the utility of Hip Hop went well beyond self-advocacy. They watched as participants flourished—especially people with disabilities and youth in under-resourced communities. They saw Hip Hop as an effective pedagogical and therapeutic approach for improving health and wellness outcomes in the communities BEAT served. 

While this was an unintended consequence, BEAT decided to follow the evidence and ask why this was happening. Why were participants seeing such incredible benefits from Hip Hop? Was it something specific about Hip Hop that produced these outcomes?

In 2017, BEAT began partnering with clinical researchers to answer that very question. They began investigating what about beatboxing led to better speech development in young people with speech and communication difficulties. Since that time, BEAT has developed additional partnerships with clinical researchers to investigate other realms of Hip Hop and its impact on health and wellness. Through this research, BEAT seeks to understand and optimize the power of Hip Hop as a pathway to improving health and healing. 

In 2020, BEAT began seeking accreditations to provide continuing education courses based on the outcomes of its clinical research to teach professionals how to leverage Hip Hop’s proven benefits in educational, clinical, and therapeutic settings. The goal of these programs is to teach clinicians, educators, and caregivers how to incorporate Hip Hop into therapeutic and wellness settings.

Today, BEAT champions Hip Hop as a dynamic tool in improving physical and mental wellbeing. BEAT accomplishes this mission through a three-pronged “program tunnel”. BEAT offers arts education programs rooted in Hip Hop culture to youth in under-resourced communities and to people with disabilities. Informed by observations of its programs, BEAT conducts clinical research on the efficacy of Hip Hop as a pathway to physical and mental wellbeing. Based on this research, BEAT trains professionals across industries to use Hip Hop as a tool to advance clinical and health practices.

OUR TEAM

James looks directly into the camera. He is a middle aged Korean-American with facial hair. He is wearing a light blue suit shirt.
James Kim
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
he, him

James Kim is the founder and Executive Director of BEAT, a nonprofit based in NYC dedicated to providing unique music and dance based educational programs to underserved youths and people with special needs. The mission of BEAT is to transform lives through creative self-expression rooted in Hip Hop culture.

Tanasia is smiling and wearing glasses.
TANASIA PEACOCK
PROGRAM MANAGER
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Tanasia has worked in Human Services for the entirety of her professional career. She thrives on helping people and coming up with creative solutions to any issues that may arise. Tanasia has worked in a supervisory capacity for many years and is dedicated to seeking out new ways to build up programing with BEAT in new and inventive ways.

Luiggi smiles directly into the camera. He is latinx, in his early 20s and has a moustache and goatee. He is wearing a black shirt.
LUIGGI MONTANERO
INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT MANAGER
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Luiggi is a 23 year old Latin-x Emcee from Inwood Manhattan. In addition to being the Outreach Coordinator, he is also an alumni of the BEAT Explorers program. He enjoys working towards creating opportunities and experiences for current and future Alumni as well.

Aileen smiles directly into the camera. She is Mexican-American, in her early 20s and her hair is down and wavy. She's wearing hoop earrings and a striped shirt.
AILEEN LEON-ECHEVERRIA
PROGRAM MANAGER
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Aileen Leon-Echeverria, programming assistant at BEAT, is from South Florida by way of Mexico. Previously, she worked as an intern for BEAT as well as a production assistant for the Veronica Robles Cultural Center. Aileen graduated from Boston Conservatory at Berklee with a BFA in Contemporary Dance Performance in 2020.

GARRETT SCOOTER OYAMA
TRAINING AND TOOLS MANAGER
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Scooter is a 34 year old speech pathologist and musician from LA and the Bay Area, California. He is excited about the intersection of music and language and is exploring how to use hip-hop to improve communication with the BEAT team.

OUR BOARD

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Hannah Y Kim
Board Chair
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Former chief of staff/communications director to Rep. Charles Rangel
Rosa Scott looks in the direction of the camera. She is wearing a black shirt and glasses and has long brown hair.
Rosa Scott
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Rosa Scott Consulting LLC
Heather grins directly into the camera. She is wearing a black shirt, a necklace and has blonde hair.
Heather Leavy Rusiewicz, Ph.D., CCC-SLP
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Chair and Associate Professor, Duquesne University
Tonia Kim smiles directly into the camera. She is a Korean woman with long black hair wearing a white shirt.
Tonia Kim
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Designer + Content Director, Toki Collection
Howard smiles directly into the camera. He is wearing a grey shirt and has short black hair.
Howard Cho
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Senior Data Engineer at Attentive Mobile
Yalda grins directly into the camera. She is wearing a white shirt, nose ring and earings and has long brown hair.
Yalda Ghods
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Senior Project Manager
Kristin smiles directly into the camera. She is wearing a black shirt with a necklace. Her hair is blond-ish brown.
Kristin Gutekunst
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Senior Manager Events, Programme for People and Planet, Expo 2020 Dubai // CEO & Co-Founder, Overview Collective (on sabbatical)
Medium grey circle with lighter grey "silhouette" made of one circle for a "head" and a portion of a circle for the "body."
Andrew Park
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COO, Alpine Securities LLC
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Romon Yang
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International Visual Artist; Rostarr

DISABILITY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

For the last 10 years, BEAT has engaged people with disabilities in the art of beatboxing. The access and inclusion we provide though our BEAT Rockers program has influenced nearly every move that BEAT has made as an organization, such as:

  • Ongoing development of Alphabeat, which uses beatboxing as a speech therapy practice tool
  • Launching a research study to determine the efficacy of beatboxing as a speech therapy intervention for children with Down Syndrome
  • Commitment to make inclusion- and access-informed decisions at every level

 

We can do so much more. Our Disability Advisory Committee, made up of self-advocates and allies, has been created to ensure that we do it right. These initiatives include:

  • Developing inclusive hiring and Board recruitment practices
  • Expanding all of our programming to be accessible for youth with disabilities

 

If you are a self-advocate or committed ally, we would love to invite you to join our Disability Advisory Committee. Your opinion will guide how we approach these initiatives from planning through completion. Will you join us?

Please email Lulu Fogarty for more information.

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