David Bremang, born in Toronto, is the founder of FoundMissing, an experiential marketing agency. Through photography, visual content, and strategy development, he has collaborated with brands like Nike, Jordan, OVO, Ace Hill, ANF, and more to create meaningful content.

With Caribbean and African heritage and a deep enthusiasm for the history and depth of Carnival, David found it essential to immerse himself in the Trinidadian and Toronto carnival space. Working with three major bands since 2018 has given David a profound understanding of why Carnival is crucial in society.

The hallmark of David Bremang's work lies in the ability to translate storytelling into tangible results. By amplifying brand visibility, David consistently delivers measurable impact. Moreover, he fosters vibrant community engagement, both online and offline, creating lasting connections that transcend mere transactions.

You might know Devan Rajkumar from his appearances as a food expert on CityLine, one of his many popups around the world or as Chef Dev on social media. 

Born in Toronto into a Guyanese household, he grew up surrounded by diverse communities and cuisines. An established media personality, Chef Dev’s relaxed and modern approach to cooking is steeped in his Caribbean family heritage and his South Asian ancestry.

He is on a mission to create food with sharing that modernizes the craft, traditions and taste of East and West Indian cuisines.

His first cookbook: Mad Love: Big Flavors Made to Share from South Asia to the Caribbean is out now.

Djamil Ninsoo is known affectionately by his social media handle “DouglaBwoy". 

Author of the children’s book Eva My Nani-Ji, Djamil is an Afro-Indo Jamaican cultural advocate. An anthropologist by major and passion, Djamil’s mantra is “Education through Representation” and he utilises his platform to promote and educate others on the richness of Jamaican culture, history, and heritage with special note of the contributions of Indentured Indians.

Greg O’Malley is professor of history at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He is a co-creator (with Alex Borucki) of the Intra-American Slave Trade Database, an online research tool that documents more than 35,000 slave trading voyages from one port in the Americas to another. 

His first book, Final Passages: The Intercolonial Slave Trade of British America, 1619-1807, examines a complex network for distributing enslaved Africans throughout North America and the Caribbean after their survival of the Atlantic crossing. 

His second book, The Escapes of David George: An Odyssey of Slavery and Freedom in the Revolutionary Era, with St. Martin’s Press is forthcoming. 

Harry Alvarez is the Co-Founder and COO of Offbeat Travel, a destination management company with roots in Latin America. They have been working in tourism in the area for over 15 years and believe in the power it has to support the Caribbean communities. They pride themselves on being at the forefront of decolonizing travel by providing travel experiences through a local lens, supporting local businesses and learning by doing with their in-country team. 

Born in New York City, Harry's family relocated to their native home in the Dominican Republic when he was 6 months old. He has lived in the cultural and physical space between the Dominican Republic and the United States for his entire life. Harry currently lives in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. When not personally participating in Offbeat Travel's client experiences you can find him cooking or gardening with his partner Lauren and two sons.

Keja Valens received her Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Harvard University in 2004. She is currently a Professor of English at Salem State University where she teaches and writes on Caribbean literatures, literatures of the Americas, queer theory, and food writing.

She has written Culinary Colonialsim, Caribbean Cookbooks, and Recipes for National Independence, Home Cooking: Diaspora and Transnational Caribbean Cookbooks, Caribbean Ecopoetics: The Categorial Imperative and Indifference in the Caribbean Environment and Desire between Women in Caribbean Literature. 

When she is not teaching or writing, she gardens, cooks, and eats.

Born and raised in Carolina, Puerto Rico, Laura Ortiz completed a Bachelor's in Tourism from the University of Puerto Rico in 2017, went on to get her Masters in History of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean from the Center of Advanced Studies of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean in 2020, and is currently a doctoral student for a PhD in History of Puerto Rico and the Caribbean. In 2022, she opened up Sofrito Tours, specializing in gastronomic, cultural, and historical tours around the center and south of Puerto Rico.

Connect with Laura on:
TikTok
Instagram

As a military brat and the child of a Cuban-American and a Canadian, I am lucky to have had the opportunity to spend most of my life moving between cultures. As an adult, I have continued to experience diverse stories; both real and fictional.

I believe in working with people whose voices have been marginalized. My goal is to create a career around stories that connect across gender, race, nationality, class, and other lived experiences.

Lisette Alvarez 

Podcasts: Once Upon a Time in Havana podcast, Havana Syndrome

Marissa is a completely self-taught chef. Born and raised in Montreal, Marissa’s kitchen reflects the multicultural food haven she hails from. Her Caribbean heritage is the foundation of her passion for honouring tradition, and you taste this in every bite of food she prepares.

A proud MasterChef Canada alumni, Marissa uses her voice and platform to provide more visibility for other young, black, LGBTQ+ members of the culinary community.

Marissa’s goal is to share the love and passion that she has for food with as many people as possible.

Melissa Goolsarran Ramnauth is a Trademark & Business Attorney based in Florida and an historian with a focus on Guyana and Trinidad, seeking to learn and share history about the ships used to transport Indian indentured servants and enslaved African people to Trinidad and Guyana.

On her website West Indian Diplomacy, you will find articles about Guyana, Trinidad & Tobago and the wider Caribbean. Melissa has a petition to preserve and digitize Indian indentured servant and enslaved African records in the Caribbean.

IG: westindianhistory

Chef Mireille is a classically trained chef living in NYC with many years of experience teaching kids international recipes that reinforce geography, history and math skills.

Global Kitchen Travels, her food and travel blog, focuses on traditional recipes from around the world.

Mireille was the co-host of Season 1 of The Moreish Podcast.

Nafees M. Khan serves on the Operational Committee for Slave Voyages Consortium and is a member of the senior leadership team of the African Diaspora Consortium. 

Nafees holds a Ph.D. in Educational Studies from Emory University and a B.A. in Sociology with a minor in History from Tufts University, and is currently a Content Developer at Ralph Applebaum Associates, a museum design firm. His broad research interests incorporate the legacies of slavery as related to education and the experiences of the African Diaspora Communities.

Hi There! I'm Teri. A self-taught cook with a passion for amazing food and the entire process of food creation, I have dabbled in the beauty of cooking for years. In 2019, I officially began my journey as the business owner of Teri’s Food Therapy. Since then, I have found so much joy in catering, blogging, recipe creation, product development, and all that surrounds my brand.

As I continue to grow and explore the world of food, I invite you to come along with me. Grab your aprons, sharpen your knives, and prepare your taste buds for a wonderful culinary adventure.

Tiara Jade Chutkhan is a writer and book blogger working in the Canadian publishing industry. She strives to promote diverse and culturally specific literature, with her Indo-Caribbean heritage the focus of most of her written work.

Her first book, Two Times Removed: An Anthology of Indo-Caribbean Fiction was published in May 2021 followed by Volume II in June 2022 and Volume III in May 2024.