Empowering the Voices of African Descent Youth through conversation, collaboration, creation and performance.
The Team
Deanna Shields, Dae
Founder, Executive Director
Afro Van Connect
Dae Shields is the founder and Executive Director of Afro Van Connect Society, Community Advocate, Musician, Designer and Events Coordinator. As an Emcee under…
Moses Andeku, Kor Kase
Co-Founder, Director
Afro Van Connect
An actor, artist, activist, designer, event coordinator, life Coach and cofounder of Afro Van Connect. An actor starting his music career in the 2010’s releasing music…
Micheal Kiapway
Visual Arts Director
Black Space Media
Michael is a visual artist/actor born in South Africa but moved to Canada at the age of 7 where he lived in Hamilton…
Jordan J
Technical Director
Afro Van Connect
Our Mission
The mission of Afro Van Connect is to power the voices of African Descent Youth.
Our core values are to heal our community, create opportunity and educate our Youth.
impowering the voices of African Descent Youth through conversation, collaboration, creation & performance. Establishing a gathering of young vibrant creative minds dedicated to innovating authentic solutions, to increase the visibility of the underrepresented diaspora communities.
Offering a creative capitol platform where shared opportunities and resources are designed to support liberating education and community sustainability. Building a platform to celebrate our shared story through our collective accomplishments.
Our Mentors
Silas BalabyekkuboBabaluku
Co-Founder Mentor
Silas Balabyekkubo is the Founder of The Bavubuka Foundation, youth activist and entrepreneur, creator of The Bavubuka Dynasty…
Roger Collins
Mentor
Anthonia Ogundele
Mentor
As a trained planner, Anthonia has a passion for cities and engaging communities. She was on the board of the Coal Harbour Residents Association and was a member of the North East False Creek Stewardship Committee…
Vanessa Richards
Mentor
Vanessa Richards is an artist with a foundation in music, performance, writing, and socially-engaged practices. She works as an arts-based community engagement professional…
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Deanna Shields
Dae Shields is the founder and Executive Director of Afro Van Connect Society, Community Advocate, Musician, Designer and Events Coordinator. As an Emcee under the stage name ebonEmpress, Dae aims to share her lived experience as a Jamaican Canadian with her community. She is Bassist and Front Woman for Ital Blue formed in 2017.
Ital Blue strives to spread awareness about the injustice that African communities face and to show the impact that people of African descent have had on Canadian culture, and cultures around the world. In service of this goal, Ital Blue actively spreads the ideals of great civil rights leaders. Messages of hope, unity, love, and equal opportunity for all, regardless of race.
Dae began Afro Van Connect April 2019 to create a platform for young creatives to come and express themselves. One of the initiatives started by Afro Van Connect is called The Remix Café. These BLACK SPACES allow young creatives to come and express themselves, share ideas and connect. They are established to create opportunities for people of African Descent to access equipment, education, training, networks, and opportunities, empowering them to creatively and economically flourish; building on their unique gifts and perspectives from their heritage and diaspora cultural experiences.
Moses Andeku, Kor Kase
Buni Kor aka Kor Kase is an actor, artist, activist, designer, event coordinator, life Coach and cofounder of Afro Van Connect. Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. Kor began his acting and music career in the 2010’s releasing music independently online platforms and playing local shows in the lower mainland. Generating an underground following and local attention. As an actor he has appeared on shows like Man in the High in the Castle, Izombie, and See. He is consistently releasing original music, covers, and remixes on online platforms. Including the release of multiple projects, singles and collaborations in 2020.
In 2019 Kor cofounded an artist collective called Afro Van Connect. As an organization focused on creating platforms for creatives of African descent to come together and express themselves. The intention of Afro Van Connect is to build community through creating safe spaces for healing, rooted conversations, and the arts.
It is his goal to promote messages of empowerment, love, unity and equality. As an artist it is his responsibility to be a voice for my community. He believes it is important to use his platform to highlight injustices and inequities in the hopes of creating awareness and solutions. As an artist of African Descent sharing the experiences of people of African descent, the injustices our communities face to this day, and showing the impact that people of African Descent have had on Canadian culture, and cultures around the world.
Alisha Lettman, Director of Legacy Growers Collective
Alisha Lettman is the lead facilitator for the Legacy Growers Collective [hyperlink to LGC info]. She is also a Massage Therapist, Ayurvedic Wellness Coach, multidisciplinary performance artist, and poet.
Alisha's lineage descends from Sindh Province in what is now known as Pakistan and from the valleys of the Blue Mountain in Jamaica. Having grown up in Chicago, her passion for social justice rooted in land liberation & traditional knowledge was ignited by many teachers and mentors. She comes from people of the land, from bush healers, and from innovative engineers. These experiences brought her core values for truth, integrity, and compassion to the center of her movements in all their manifestations.
Her work has graced the stages of Vancouver International Jazz Fest (2019), The Vines Festival (2019), UBC Pride (2019), and The Black Love Tour (2019). She is currently completing a mentorship with Eventide Doulas and an Interdisciplinary Degree in Leadership & Social Change from the University of British Columbia. She can be found brewing herbal medicines at the Black Market and on Instagram at @alignmentapothecary.
Mariam Barry, Directory of Black Space Media Film
Mariam Barry is a multidisciplinary artist from Norway and The Gambia. As a creative, her approach to art-marking is intersectional and multi-hyphenate. Mariam is an actor, writer, and producer in both theatre and film. She is a former artistic producer with Killjoy Theatre, an intersectional feminist theatre collective, and the co-creator of Breaking Borders, a performance crew for immigrant, newcomer and refugee artists. Mariam has a BFA in Acting from UBC and loves telling stories that celebrate BlPOC voices. Her favourite acting credits include: bcHub Artist Ensemble (b current theatre), Ashbridge (CBC), Snowpiercer (Netflix), 'da Kink In My Hair (Envision Festival/Boca del Lupo), & Theory (Tremors Festival/Rumble Theatre). Mariam is also an arts facilitator and film editor for Reel Youth, where she supports the production of short films, intergenerational documentaries, animation films, and music videos in youth communities across Canada.
Silas Balabyekkubo
Silas Balabyekkubo is the founder and executive director of The Bavubuka Foundation, creator of The Bavubuka Dynasty as well as an award-winning musician, producer, community youth activist and social entrepreneur. Born and raised in Uganda until the age of twelve and then experiencing the opportunities that Canada had to offer during his late teens and early twenties has given Silas a unique and powerful perspective on how to effectively bridge the gap and create dynamic global partnerships that are profitable, positive and empowering.
Since 2005 Silas has successfully completed thirteen multi-month mission trips to Uganda for the Bavubuka Foundation and implemented over twenty-five youth and creative programs that provide a platform for positive expression of thought and community building. Silas’ work in Uganda has directly impacted thousands of youth and the tools and experience they have gleaned from Bavubuka have created positive change in their families and communities.
As a visionary entrepreneur Silas is responsible for creating Bavubuka Dynasty, an international platform that celebrates indigenous culture, which has already been featured in Natural Awakening NYC, The Georgia Straight, Vancouver Magazine, Shared Vision, Canadian Immigrant, Newvision Entertainment and Monitor LifeStyle. This movement has a rapidly expanding following of socially conscious musicians (Michael Franti, Okai Musik, The Reminders, Candice Davis Antique), fashion designers, visual artists, poets, motivational speakers and loyal consumers. This creative platform has birthed Uganda’s most popular graphic tee movements Bavubuka All Starz, We Ride Bodaz, Spoken Truth and African Queen. Through Bavubuka Dynasty Silas has created opportunities for youth to conceptualize, design and execute their own entrepreneurial visions and he has created a bridge to a global audience and market.
Silas is passionate about connecting communities on a global scale and has travelled extensively promoting hip hop as a powerful tool to teach leadership, build peace and strengthen relationships. He has been a Guest Speaker at John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts, Howard University, The American University, Trinity College, Trinity International Hip Hop Festival, Remixing The Art of Social Change Teach - In, WBL Hip-Hop Festival, Kalamazoo Arcus Centre for Social Justice Leadership, TEDX Kampala, Woodrow Wilson Centre of Scholars, The United States Institute of Peace and The Pablo Neruda Academy. Instagram: @bavubuka
Silas Balabyekkubo
Anthonia Ogundele, is the Manager of Sustainability, Business Continuity, Emergency Planning and Environmental Sustainability at Vancity Credit Union. In her present role, Anthonia’s team divides focus between the organizational resilience of Vancity, through their business continuity program and ensuring the organization remains in integrity with their environmental commitments through overseeing their GHG accounting processes and employee engagement.
As a trained planner, Anthonia has a passion for cities and engaging communities. She was on the board of the Coal Harbour Residents Association and was a member of the North East False Creek Stewardship Committee, igniting the re-imaging on Hogan’s Alley. In 2016 she turned a storefront facing closet into the Cheeky Proletariat, located on Carrall street, which is
An accessible and inclusive space for the free expression of all people. Since it was launched, 22 “creatively inclined” individuals have presented projects. Now, on a leave of absence, Anthonia is leveraging the cooperative model to build economic resilience through youth empowerment by partnering with Solid State Industries (https://www.solidstateindustries.com/) to incubate a black youth cooperative called the Ethọ́s Lab Project (www.ethoslab.space). Through the Ethọ́s Lab Project she is hoping to inspire a legacy of black leadership as well as answer the question: ”What might place/space making look like when you centre the humanity of the black experience?”
Silas is passionate about connecting communities on a global scale and has travelled extensively promoting hip hop as a powerful tool to teach leadership, build peace and strengthen relationships. He has been a Guest Speaker at John F. Kennedy Centre for the Performing Arts, Howard University, The American University, Trinity College, Trinity International Hip Hop Festival, Remixing The Art of Social Change Teach - In, WBL Hip-Hop Festival, Kalamazoo Arcus Centre for Social Justice Leadership, TEDX Kampala, Woodrow Wilson Centre of Scholars, The United States Institute of Peace and The Pablo Neruda Academy. Instagram: @bavubuka
Michael Kiapway
Michael is a visual artist/actor born in South Africa but moved to Canada at the age of 7 where he lived in Hamilton,
Toronto and studying Theatre at the University of Regina (Saskatchewan). Settling in Vancouver for the past 5 years,
his main goal in engaging with Afro Van Connect is to collaborate and combine marginalized people from all walks of life into an organization
in which they work together in order to educate an bring about change in the community.
Vanessa Richards
Vanessa Richards is an artist with a foundation in music, performance, writing, and socially-engaged practices. She works as an arts-based community engagement professional, developing partnerships and projects that cultivate collaboration in place-making and social sustainability.
She is the founder and choir leader of Van Van Song Society (formerly Woodward’s Community Singers, established in 2009) and director of Creative Together, a song-based facilitation service. As an actor she has been nominated for a Jesse Richardson Theatre Award.
At Cardiff University she earned an MPhil in Creative Writing with poetry and critical works anthologized in the UK, Holland, United States and Canada. While living in London, UK during the 1990's she began devising and delivering arts-based engagement, public celebrations, carnival arts, education and programming through collaboration with community programmes, universities, unions, cultural organizations, health care providers, and projects that serve the imaginations of young people and elders. Since returning home to Vancouver in 2004, she has devised and delivered social arts projects with The Portland Hotel Society (PHS), Simon Fraser University, Vancouver Coastal Health, Public Dreams Society, The Arts Club Theatre Company, Vancouver International Children’s Festival, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Capilano University, 312 Main, and Vancouver Park Board, among others.
Committed to the unique history and futurity of people of African descent in British Columbia, Richards was an active member of the City of Vancouver’s Black History Month Citizen’s Advisory Group for six years. She is a former and founding board member of the Hogan’s Alley Society and was a member of the Hogan’s Alley Working Group.
In 2019/2020 she was on the advisory committee for the RADIUS Fellowship at Beedie School of Business SFU and a producer/facilitator for the Social Venture Institute with Hollyhock Leadership Institute. She is currently a volunteer mentor for two youth co-operatives, Ethọ́s Lab and Solid State.
In 2018, she received the City of Vancouver’s Mayor’s Achievement Award for her work in the realm of civic imagination.
