This month we've teamed up with LGBTQ+ youth charity, Just Like Us, on a series of live conversations and events. We'll be asking some of our ambassadors what life was like for them growing up queer as a person of colour in the UK.
We Create Space is all about sharing the unique, lived experiences of queer people to a wider audience and using stories for change. That’s why, for the next four weeks, we’re partnering up with the LGBT young people’s charity Just Like Us to host a series of powerful conversations with queer people of colour on our Instagram.
Just Like Us recruit young queer people and train them to become queer ambassadors, championing LGBT+ equality in schools. They hope that, by increasing queer visibility in the education system and giving students a relatable voice to talk to, they can help tackle homophobia and improve the lives of young LGBT+ students.
In these three livestreams, we’ll be talking about experiences growing up as a person of colour, the journey to find your queer identity, and using your voice and story for change.
This all leads up to one insightful discussion event on October 13th with our very own Maylis Djikalou, where she will be discussing not only her own experience in growing up queer, but why queer representation and visibility is so important. This event is hosted on Zoom and completely free to attend - if you’re interested, you can register for a place here.
Our livestream guests
Chris Kenna (he/him) - 22nd September @ 4pm
Chris is CEO and found of Brand Advance Group, a company which connects brands with diverse audiences globally. Chris is also a member of the WFA Diversity Board - as a mixed race, out gay father, he is a strong advocate for diversity and representations within media and advertising. He was recently given the Media leader 2020 Judges award, named on EMPower’s 100 LGBT Executives and Ethnic Minority Executives lists in 2020.
Eva Echo (she/they) - 29th September @ 4pm
Eva is an activist, blogger and educator who campaigns for trans equality and acceptance. They founded the Pass It On campaign, aimed at challenging body image and expectations imposed on gender diverse people by a cisgender society, whilst giving a platform to those who may be overlooked. She is also a brand ambassador for the London Transgender Clinic, part of Gendered Intelligence’s GIANTS programme and a member of the Crown Prosecution Service’s hate crime panel.
Sabah Choudrey (they/them) - 6th October @ 4pm
Sabah is a public speaker, writer, “psychotherapist in training” and trans youth worker since 2014. They are the current Head of Youth Service at Gendered Intelligence, trustee of the Inclusive Mosque Initiative and co-founder of Colours Youth Network, dedicated to supporting LGBT+ young people of colour in the UK.
Maylis Djikalou (she/her) - 13th October @ 4pm
Maylis Djikalou is transformation coach and consultant who has worked at the intersection of creative and mental health industries, curating international events and promoting wellbeing in professional spaces. She is one of the co-founders of We Create Space, and currently the programme director.