On this episode we chat with The Honorable Ahmed Hussen, Canada's Minister for International Development. We discuss his path from being a refugee to rising to become a Minister in the Canadian government handling different portfolios.

We're back after a hiatus. New episodes launch on November 9, 2023.

Today we chat with Ifę Elizabeth Shabi, a prolific brand consumer brand builder, entrepreneur, CEO, and biochemist focused on creating products and businesses in the beauty industry. She's the founder of beauty brands including Loola Cosmetics, Serumize Skin, and HB Labs, and her work has been recognized by Forbes and Elle.

We discuss her impressive story as a young black female founder in a traditionally white space, including how she started her company and the challenges she overcame to get to this point in her life.

This episode features the fascinating story of Dr. Opiyo Oloya , Superintendant at the York Catholic District School Board.

Dr. Opiyo's story is truly inspiring. He left Uganda, the country of his birth, as a refugee as a 23 year old university student. First into Kenya and then eventually to Canada where the World University Service of Canada sponsored his undergraduate program at Queen's University.

Dr. Opiyo's love for education led him to complete a Master's degree in Education at the University of Ottawa, which allowed him to begin an illustrious career as a teacher culminating in his appointment as Superintendant.

He eventually returned to his home country to work on research into child soldiers in Northern Uganda earning his PhD as a result. He also worked along side the African Mission in Somalia chronicling their successful war against terror. His work there and subsequent book earned him an honorary Doctorate of Law and a Heroes Medal awarded presented to him by the President of Uganda.

Today we chat with amazing South African multi-award winning jazz pianist and vocalist, Thandi Ntuli . She shares her journey into jazz music, specifically on the piano, which started at a very young age. After high school, Thandi went on to study music formally at the University of Cape Town. In this episode we also discuss some of the emotional events in her life that inspired much of the work on her albums.

To date, her many collaborations with various artists and musicians around the globe display her fluidity in genres.

Her work has received many awards and nominations including a Metro FM award nomination (2015), a Mbokodo Award (2015) and a South African Music Award (SAMA) nomination (2019). She was also the recipient of the coveted Standard Bank Young Artist award for Jazz in 2018.

You can find her incredible songs and albums playing on every music streaming platform.

We're joined on the show today by Mansa Chintoh , Director, Business & Legal Affairs at Entertainment One (eOne). She shares here story as a first generation Black Canadian finding her path in life that eventually led her to a career as a lawyer in the entertainment industry.

Mansa gives back by mentoring young individuals looking to get into the entertainment industry and volunteers with Artist's Legal Advise Services , a not for profit that helps creators understand their legal rights.

Before she became Head of Growth at ScaleUpNation, Kimberly Ofori had a very interesting journey that took her from the Netherlands to Dubai and to Spain. Without a colleage degree, she started her full time career in insurance at age 16 and, after a few years, moved on to investment banking and wealth management where she rose quickly up the ranks. An unfortunate turn of events turned an opportunity in Dubai into a mad scramble for survival.

Kimberly eventually became an entrepreneur in Spain, sold 2 companies and found her way back to the Netherlands where she helps start ups grow and scale their businesses.

We delve into her amazing story on today's episode. Listen now on Braided Media

In our first episode of Season 3, we chat with Nicole Nomsa Moyo, an Urban & Architectural Designer.

She has a passion for human-centric design, master planning, innovative and disruptive sustainable development, community engagement processes, intelligent future thinking and Africa her beloved continent. Her work “Rising”, was recently selected as one of six international finalists for the 2020 Miami Design District Commission. In 2019, her work was recognized on multiple international design platforms, including the World Architecture Community, Dezeen, and ArchDaily, where two of her drawings were selected as “The Best Architecture Drawings of the Year.” FRAME Magazine Issue 129, identified her as an "anthropocentric thinker and emerging designer'' focusing on future forward off-grid design concepts.

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