Leaders by Choice Presents WITHOUT VIOLENCE, WE RISE - CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF LEADERS BY CHOICE

On August 21 at 7:00pm EST, current and past members of Leaders by Choice, a nonprofit youth leadership and performing arts organization, will gather in celebration of 25 years. Join them as they virtually honor artists and activists across the nation for "Without Violence, We Rise - Celebrating 25 Years of Leaders By Choice."

A spectacular night of reflection, celebration, powerful performances, and fun. This evening to showcase their STARs' phenomenal work created during the 2020 Virtual STAR Performing Arts Camp, will feature guest appearances by friends of LBC and Original Lifetime Members. You won't want to miss this display of artivism.

To reserve tickets, visit: www.lbc25.splashthat.com.

For the past several weeks, the STARs (Students Taking Active Roles) have worked alongside some of the business' best. STAR coaches and special guests include Khalia Davis (A Kids Play About Racism, Bay Area Children's Theatre), Talia Robinson (Dear Evan Hansen, Les Miserables), Stephane Duret (Kinky Boots), Taylor McMahon (Fly, One Thousand Nights and One Day), Jamie Rice (Broad City, Lost Girls), Kamryn Vaulx (Alvin Ailey American Dance), Lindsay Fisher Jenkins (Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center), Dani Berkowitz (Rhinoceros), and Brittany Dingle (Ball State University).

At the forefront of LBC, whose mission is to provide youth with a safe, caring, and inspiring environment that offers both leadership and performing arts skills to their youth, are an amazing mommy daughter dynamic duo! At its inception, LBC started with six 8th grade Black and Brown girls who were looking for a safe place to have their voices heard. Their prayers were quickly answered, and Leaders By Choice was born. For the past 25 years, Founder and Artistic Director Fonda Kitt Muhammad has created a space for more than 700 young people, helping them find and amplify their voices and purpose via arts and activism. Her daughter, Najah Imani Muhammad, witnessed this environment and became quickly involved as a child and now as an adult. Together, they have done a noteworthy job of co-directing LBC's 2020 Virtual STAR Performing Arts Camp, sprinkling their magic over campers, apprentices, and their team of coaches.

STAR Campers: Gäelle Vente, Bela Gonzalez, Victoria Coral Rodriguez-Gonzalez, Ayyah Abdul Mumit, Chase Tanner, Tsehai Price, Anya Tikhtman, Sophi Tufillaro, Laurin Williams, Taylor Lewis-Waleed, London Humbert, Martha-Ann Cates, Kalel Etienne

STAR Apprentices: Willow Bennison, Jayden Brockington (Ragtime), Khalilah Muhammad, Greta Frischling, Amirah Muhammad

LBC Artists/Speakers: SPACE CADE7S, Brandi Marks, RedSea, Fiona Jackson, Stephane Duret, Shaniece Brown, Ali T. Muhammad, Khalia Davis & her puppet friend Nia, Dawn Grannum, La'Shawn Martinez, Chanté Dandridge, Larella Bunch, and Daysha J. Williams. Seamlessly together by Austin Wilder of South End Digital.

Their purpose is multifaceted. They aim to develop students' theater skills as well as their leadership skills, cultivating the artist and activist in each child. They also aim to guide each student toward responsible self-management of their own behavior as they engage in richly motivating and challenging leadership experiences.

It is their belief that students learn best in an accepting, consistent, and secure environment where all individuals are respected and appreciated for their uniqueness and talents. LBC offers its services to people embracing all races, religions, creeds, sexual orientations, gender identities, gender expressions, and national origins found in the human family.

The vision of LBC is to teach, nurture, and develop youth on how to become effective leaders by way of the arts. They will encourage and stimulate the potential of each child, while also providing for their physical, emotional, and social growth. They guide young people to become positive contributors in their local communities as well as our society at large, utilizing skills that ensure they will be heard.

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