No Easy Props Inc

No Easy Props, Inc is a 501c3 status organization committed to preserving Hip-Hop culture by providing quality Hip-Hop cultural dance, art, and music education, enrichment and entertainment for young people through engaging programs, workshops, performances, and cultural events throughout the communities of Los Angeles and Denver. The goal is to provide a platform in which to educate and cultivate skills of dance, art, and music amongst multiple generations, to engage youth and co-partner with BIPOC communities on their own terms, to work for equity, help cultivate self-esteem, awareness and community
stewardship, plus appreciation for diversity, all the while having fun!

No Easy Props vision is to carry on the tradition of Hip-Hop culture by making it accessible [to at risk youth, women, young adults and families], taught by actual practitioner's of Hip-Hop who are multi-generational with lived + applied knowledge of Hip-Hop culture to empower youth, women, and young adults from low socioeconomic communities in Los Angeles and Denver.

No Easy Props is an organization that is committed to the inclusiveness of minorities, underserved youth and women in marginalized communities who face hardship and are at risk. Hip-Hop is a culture that evolved out of the forgotten ghettos created for an by black and brown communities due to socioeconomic stratification. We are dedicated to assist these communities through the cultural arts of Hip-Hop to achieve a sense of worth, develop artistry, cultivate physical, emotional, and mental skills to enrich life.

The main offerings of No Easy Props are HipHop101 after school dance & art program, ICY (Inner City Youth) Dance League, Fortify Our Rebel Youth apprentice & mentor program, Bboy Bgirl Summit annual event in Los Angeles & Queenz of Hip-Hop classes, workshops and annual symposium for women in Denver.

No Easy Props also supports collaborative partnerships with individuals, movements, and organizations whose mission is to service youth and the community through the Hip-Hop arts such as IPR Healing Artz in South Central Los Angeles, Kaos Network in Leimert Park, The Graff Lab in Pico Union area of Los Angeles, the Colorado based Bboy Factory and Queenz of Hip-Hop, nation movements and organizations including United Hip-Hop Vanguard and Hip-Hop Congress, as well as supportive resources to document and publicize Hip-Hop culture. No Easy Props provides all programs and events at no cost to the youth, young adults, and families we serve.

Currently our primary programs are HipHop101 during and after school dance and art program for school age youth 5-13; the Bboy Bgirl Summit annual event for all ages; ICY Dance League for youth ages 7-18; Fortify Our Rebel Youth program for at risk youth 12-19; Queenz of Hip-Hop classes, workshops, for ages 5-24 and performances for all ages; the West Coast Funk n Soul Dance Series events and workshops for all ages. Our programs are mainly targeted to serve BIPOC youth, families, women and multigenerational adults and are available in Los Angeles and Denver.

Program Metrics
-HipHop101 after school program servicing 1,200 school age children annually in low socio-economic, underserved areas of Los Angeles in partnership with LAUSD, LAsBEST, and Compton Unified Middle Schools, total served 14,400
-The Bboy Bgirl Summit annual event with 2500 worldwide attendees (2,000 Los Angeles residents, 1,000 of which are at risk youth, 500 national/international attendees), total 50,000
-The LA Inner City Youth (ICY) Dance League, servicing 50 youth living in the housing projects of Los Angeles in partnership with HACLA, total served 500
-Fortify Our Rebel Youth Program serving 100 youth in the Los Angeles, and Denver regions annually (This is our newest program established in 2021) total served thus far: 50
-The West Coast Funk n Soul Event Series with 500 participants (300 from Los Angeles, 100 from elsewhere in California, 100 from US & Intl. with a total of 1,500 online views
-Queenz of Hip-Hop weekly classes for school age youth in Denver and Aurora in partnership with Denver Public Schools and Aurora Public Schools along with 360 Arts servicing 800 students annually, along with performances with the Queenz of Hip-Hop from Colorado that engage and teach 400 teens and young women annually throughout the Colorado community, total served through programming 2,000, total event attendees 4,000.

NEP, Inc., now established 11 years has seen steady reasonable growth for a nonprofit and currently has a revenue of 95,000, with 2 employees, 7 independent contractors, and 15 volunteers. We are self sustaining through annual service provider contracts with LAUSD, LAsBEST, 360 Arts, and Compton Unified School District and gain additional revenue through grants and donations from fundraising. We intend on growing our service provider contracts in 2021-2021 through expansion into middle schools, charter and private schools and youth centers and supplementing with grants. We are an awarded recipient for Outstanding Community Service from the Mayors office of LA, have a solid reputation, and respect of the community of Los Angeles and are making impact in the Colorado community as well. We have been awarded grants from the California Arts Council, LA County Arts, and LA Dept. of Cultural Affairs, Tides Foundation, Supreme NYC, and the Colorado Health Foundation.

During the covid 2020-2021 season we remain(ed) active program wise by holding the first virtual Bboy Bgirl Summit in 2020 in partnership with Grand Park. Equally we began servicing youth living in the housing projects with the LA ICY Dance League virtually which has continued twice a week without a pause for over a year. We also produced 6 short documentaries about Los Angeles street dance history that we screened virtually accompanied by zoom discussions for the community to participate in with the artists featured. We recently completed 20 successful summer residences at Compton Unified Middle Schools and taught over 400 middle school youth Hip-Hop cultural dance and history. We recently started a new program, Fortify Our Rebel Youth, and just concluded our summer season 2021 servicing 50 youth (25 in Los Angeles, and 25 in Denver, CO.) Most recently with the addition of a community college arts intern student we were able to increase our marketing efforts towards the recent Bboy Bgirl Summit 2021 event, resulting in 2000 attendees.

Most recently our newest campaigns and offerings are LA vs Hate a 2 day event Nov. 20-21 to promote unity in the communities, especially in the Black & Brown communities through community dialog illustrating how Hip-Hop dance helps unify, strengthen and empower the races, collectively through the shared experience and practice of Hip-Hop culture. We listened to each other's testimonials how this works on a local, national and global level. We shared our dances with local youth through workshops in Poppin and Breakin taught by masters. We experienced dynamic street dance performances by world class groups of different generations, colors, and genders. We danced together and supported the unity of popping and breaking through a healthy teamwork competition 2v2 battle.

We have organized a mission called #saveafghanhiphoppers to help a group of 19 Afghan young adults, mothers, and siblings who are in danger hiding in neighboring countries from the Taliban. Their lives are in danger and we need to get them out quickly and help them relocate and resettle. This is one of our current primary fundraising objectives!

We are concluding our fall HipHop101 residences at local elementary schools in Los Angeles and and gearing up for next years Fortify Our Rebel Youth classes in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Denver! All the while our Los Angeles, Inner City Youth dance league continues as an online resource for all youth who need access to programming throughout the year!