JULIAN DIEGO
Julian Diego is a Community Arts practitioner and passionate advocate for access and inclusion in art-making. He believes that everyone has creative aspects that can be encouraged and developed, and that as they do, communities develop and deepen their understanding of members and themselves. Julian is the Creative Director at SKETCH Working Arts. SKETCH is a community arts enterprise engaging diverse young people, to build skills and connect to creative community. Julian's previous work at SKETCH has supported the project The Good Guise, an exploration of healthy masculinity for racialized men, and New Eyez. Julian is an experienced screen printer, a highly trained kung fu practitioner and fire performer, and is certified as a Mentor Artist-Educator through the RCM. In 2017 he received the William P. Hubbard Award for Race Relations from the City of Toronto.
BALU
As seen on Rolling Stone India, Complex Canada and CBC Music, Balu has become a musical pioneer for the South Asian community. Being raised in a Sri Lankan home while living in Eglinton West, Toronto - a place rich in Afro-Caribbean culture, Balu draws upon the nature of his upbringing to create an ‘East-meets-West’ element to his artistry. Balu is a rogue community worker who has previously collaborated with Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, Arts & Culture City of Toronto, and Ontario Health Network.To Balu, home has always been a main topic in his life, especially from stolen land while liberating on stolen land. @thelegendofbalu
TONY DRYDEN AKA BEERUS
Tony Dryden is an Arts Educator/Executive Producer who engages in community work through Kundalini Kurrency; a creative organization which he founded in the year 2020 and re-established in the year 2023. The Khansultancy exists to provide young & marginalized creatives with the opportunity to engage in cooperative economics and personal/professional development towards the end of sustainable & self-determined careers.
JAH GREY
Jah Grey is a consultant and self-taught photographic artist primarily focused on portraiture. His works, which began in 2014, are an ongoing study of Black masculinity, exploring the complex and nuanced relationship between vulnerability, joy, and identity through the lens of a Black Transman. His work has been featured in numerous press and publications, most notably: Adidas, Lululemon, Huffington Post, CBC Arts, Now Magazine, and Afropunk NYC.
Jah Grey founded the Black Men’s Therapy Fund, a non-profit that’s focused on supporting the urgent mental health needs of Black men across intersections. The organization provides support through professional psychology and therapeutic services, educational resources, workshops and discussion groups, advocacy, and the creative arts, ensuring that more men, especially those most marginalized, are equipped with the right tools, resources, and support needed to care for their mental well-being.
JAVIER DÁVILA
Javier Dávila, a queer, Latinx award-winning educator and storyteller in Toronto, is an organizing member of the Good Guise collective. For a decade, he has co-facilitated Boyoboy, a group for queer, trans and non-binary youth exploring intersectional masculinities. As Student Equity Program Advisor at the Toronto District School Board, he centres marginalized students while promoting anti-racism and anti-oppressive practices. He has co-authored evidence-based resources on healthy relationships and policies on gender-based and sexual violence prevention.
Recognized by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada for his 2023 thesis, Javier’s work investigates ‘pods’ (see Mia Mingus and the BATJC) and zine-making as tools for abolitionist education, mutual aid and Transformative Justice, emphasizing racialized men. His praxis is centred in radical love, interdependence and the recognition that “No One Is Disposable.”
MOBÓLÚWAJÍDÌDE (BO) JOSEPH
Mobólúwajídìde D. Joseph (he/him) is a Nigerian writer who lives in Toronto with his cat Meowtin Luther King Jnr. He writes poetry, fiction, and essays, and has recently begun to dabble in playwriting. He is also a hobbyist photographer and is interested in work that dreams and imagines abolitionist alternatives to present day crises.