BE United is an arts, cultural and social entrepreneurial organisation. Our mission is to advocate, nurture and celebrate Black people working in the performing arts, screen and cultural sectors in Scotland.
Our vision is a world where everyone is inspired, united and enriched through creativity.
Our values are:
Equity: to create a more equitable world, society and sectors.
Empowerment: to empower ourselves and others, to be the best that we can be and
Excellence: to go above and beyond in our work.
We believe our sectors are richer when all people are represented. Since 2014, we have organised and hosted 35 successful events and programmes, including AfroKulture Day, Edinburgh Festival Carnival, Fringe Events, Key Creatives, BE United Presents, and Creative Partnerships, attracting over 25,000 spectators. Our dedication to empowering the next generation is evident through our employability programme Producing the Future which has supported young people aged 16 – 24 to develop the skills necessary to enter the Events sector. Through our professional development programmes, Emerging Artists and BE United Presents: we have also supported over 70 artists and creatives with their career development across all 16 recognised creative industry sectors and have developed our platforms that showcases exciting emerging Black artists in Scotland.
We are continuously seeking ways to build pathways into arts employment and in 2023, we collaborated with Edinburgh International Festival & Talbot Rice Gallery to expand their recruitment drive, aiming to promote greater diversity in their performing arts staff.
Our work in the screen sector has seen us cast 500 extras for Amazon Studio’s original series ‘Anansi Boys’. This work generated over £180,000 of earned income into the Black community. Additionally, we have recruited trainees for STV & Forge Entertainment.