Samanta describes themselves as a Black queer being who hails from the mountains for Rwanda. They are an artist and community organizer whose mission is to facilitate and co-create intentional spaces that center a healing justice framework for people who are, and have been historically marginalized.

The motivation to open the Black Healing Centre comes from my want to create the world that I want/ deserve to live in. A world in which our structures and systems are rooted in care & love instead of violence. As Gwendolyn Brooks reminded us “we are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other’s magnitude and bond”.

Dr. Lisa Ndejuru is a psychotherapist, psychodramatist and theatre practitioner. Her practice is about creating accessible, non-medicalized, scalable strategies for healing and change in our communities, impacted by the violence of anti-blackness in all its forms. Violence flattens our lives and creates silences. Lisa wants to work on intergenerational transmission of trauma, breaking the silences and repairing trust within our communities. Lisa works to open pathways to wellness, emancipation, and finding one’s voice in a post-colonial context of everyday oppression, systemic racism, and large-scale political violence. Lisa’s work on trauma started in her community with survivors of organized violence and colonial violence. She was one of the 2017 Concordia public scholars and the first John F. Lemieux fellow for genocide studies in 2018. As the 2020 Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto’ faculty of information, she is working with the “Vansina collection” of Ibitekerezo tales.

Kathleen (Kat) Charles (she/they) is a queer, Haitian, mental health counsellor, artist and co-founder of Black Healing Fund based in Tio'tia:ke (Montreal).

Kat is trained as a creative arts therapist and somatic practitioner with a focus on fostering safer spaces for QTBIPOC youth as a counsellor and community organiser. Their growing ideology as a therapist is heavily rooted in a commitment to the re-indigenization of healing spaces for marginalised communities through embodiment and sacred creativity.

Kat believes that pursuing a career in mental health is void of sustainable impact without also being deeply invested in mutual aid to fuel communal resistance against systems of oppression that exacerbate mental distress for us all.

Brianna is a latina multidisciplinary artist and designer, currently based in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal. She is in the midst of completing a Bachelor of Fine Arts in design with a minor in psychology at Concordia University.

As an aspiring art therapist and writer, she aims to focus her life’s work on helping people heal and attain a holistic sense of wellbeing. She is passionate about engaging in community care, advocating for the destigmatization of mental health care, and fostering honest and healing dialogues in her work.

Katya Stella Assoe is a promising legal professional in Montreal, soon to be a licensed lawyer. Beyond the legal realm, she co-founded the Black Healing Centre, a non-profit dedicated to destigmatizing mental health in the black community. Her creative touch has left an impact on various black organizations in Montreal such as WIBCA, Black Girls Gather MTL and Cultur’elles. Honoured in 2023 as a CBC Black Changemaker, Katya’s passion for advocacy and creativity shines through, making her a catalyst for positive change.

Khan currently runs his  own business, through which he manages his clinical practice as a counselor, and offers consultation services in the areas of mental health and Inclusion. Clinically, his work is focused on supporting adolescents, young adults, the BIPOC community and the Black community in particular, by offering support that is  solution-focused & culturally relevant. His consulting work involves creating & designing workshops, trainings, presentations, lectures, educational guides/curriculum, and school-based programs (mentorship, career-exploration), along with guest-speaking, moderation/facilitation, and sitting on various committees (all focused on the intersectionality of mental health & Inclusion).

Lys is a student and research currently based in Tiohtia:ke/Montreal. She just started a Master in Child Studies at Concordia University with a Bachelor’s in Psychology. Her interest are centred around the experiences of children of color in schools and how they live situations of unfair treatment based on their identities.

With the research that she is involved in, she hopes to learn more about the multifaceted and how she can make a difference. She is deeply concerned about issues surrounding mental health for BIPOC folks especially. With previous experience in social work, she is developing skills to help her engage with different communities. She is eager to connect with people and help others in their healing journey.

Adey is an artist and student, currently finishing her undergrad in Art history and Studio arts at Concordia University, She is passionate about connecting community organizing, arts, and anti-oppression work.

Raised by Haitian philanthropists, Marie-France Barbier carries their legacy forward, dreaming and designing for social innovation. A strategist, connector, and firm believer in creativity as a catalyst for change, she has spent 16 years contributing to Montreal’s creative landscape—producing, curating, and fostering global collaborations that shift
cultural perspectives.

As the founder of Immobilier Humain, Marie-France is reimagining real estate by blending commercial services with restorative models that center people and place. Rooted in Ubuntu—Tout moun se moun, her work explores new ways to build socio-cultural ecologies where equity, belonging, and collective care reshape access and
Ownership.

Kay Thellot is currently a practicing Ethnotherapist and founder of Prensip Minokan. Prensip Minokan is a mental health resource whose vocation reaches for Black liberation. Based in Montreal, Kay offers therapy and workshops set in community, artistic and spiritual spaces, both in person and virtually, as well as transcultural consultation services to institutions and organizations in Greater Montreal. Prensip Minokan operates through an empowerment lens geared towards uplifting Traditional African and Afro-diasporic knowledge and methods as an identity-affirming path for re-indigenizing wellness and healing.  Kay offers support that takes into account identity, cultural, historical, spiritual and geopolitical issues influencing mental health among her clients identifying as Black, African or from the African diaspora. 

Sheldon is currently employed at John Abbott College as a social work technician. He has worked in the mental health field since 2015 in several different roles such as supportive counselling, intake, psychoeducation and facilitating workshops. He holds a bachelor's degree in Human Relations and a certificate in Family Life Education from Concordia University. He has been a level 1 certified basketball coach for over 30 years, coaching at the inter-city level, and he is currently an assistant coach at Vanier College. Sheldon is married and has 2 children. 

Jordy Belance is inspired by humanist and mindfulness philosophies and has an integral and optimistic approach to humanity. His work involves accompanying individuals on a journey of introspection, personal growth, and self-expression. 

Through the CCP training program, he aims to engage in community to better support, care for and serve the community effectively.