Please join the Infrastructure Institute at U of T and the Somali Centre for Culture and Recreation for a conversation featuring Isaac Olowolafe Jr., Dream Legacy Foundation, Amina Mohamed, Somali Centre for Culture and Recreation, and Alica Hall, Nia Centre for the Arts, to discuss how to build culturally-relevant and multi-faceted community spaces that are led by, and serve Black communities.

This event is free, open to the public, and will be live-streamed for those not able to attend in person.

Panelists:

Isaac Olowolafe Jr. is an award-winning real estate entrepreneur, angel investor and philanthropist. As an award winning real estate entrepreneur, his business celebrated the completion of the first major mixed-use development (condos, townhomes, retail) called Dream Residences at Yorkdale, located directly across from Yorkdale Mall, and has more developments underway across the GTA, including launch of Dream Suites @ YYZ boutique Hotel by Pearson Airport. Isaac’s love for community inspired him to establish The Dream Legacy Foundation – a philanthropic organization serving as a diversity and inclusion thought leader advocating for the millions of talented Black Citizens and historically underrepresented communities. Isaac also established The Dream Maker Realty/Olowolafe Family Scholarship Award at the University of Toronto, the largest endowment for African Studies in any Canadian university.

Amina Mohamed is a communications expert, researcher, and curator working at the intersection of culture, tech, and urban planning. Amina has worked on several global research teams examining the impact of digital placemaking, and has consulted on a variety of social infrastructure projects in Canada, the US, Germany and the Netherlands. She carries a masters degree from the University of Amsterdam in New Media and Digital Culture, with a focus on digital heritage projects. Most recently she was head of programming and communication at Urban Impact, an urban tech agency based in Berlin, and is the head of strategic communications for the Somali Centre for Culture and Recreation.

Alica Hall has been working at the intersection of art, communications and community development for over a decade. Her curatorial practice is driven by a desire to explore identity and power, excavate lesser-known stories and a commitment to expand visual narratives surrounding the Black experience. In 2018, she took on the role of Executive Director at Nia Centre for the Arts, a Toronto-based charitable organization that supports and showcases arts from across the Afro-Diaspora. In her time at the Centre, she has launched their first residency program, curated the first Black Art Fair and raised $9-M in capital funding. Alica is now heading up the renovation of Nia Centre’s 14,000 sq. ft. facility which will transform the Centre into Canada’s first professional space dedicated to Afro-diasporic art.

This event is sponsored by the Infrastructure Institute at the University of Toronto’s School of Cities, and co-hosted by the Somali Centre for Culture and Recreation.