Self-taught artist and educator Tiffany B Chanel is driven by passion and purpose. Through her kaleidoscopic portraiture, she depicts pop icons and everyday people with unapologetic vibrancy and aims to illuminate the inner beauty within each of her subjects. She is inspired by faces and aims to make the subject come alive on canvas, conveying a degree of realism forcing the viewer to be moved by feeling.
“Somalia Knight, 25 years young, was born and raised in West Palm Beach, Florida. As a child, she looked up to her great grandmother. Not only was she a pillar in the community, but in addition to having 8 kids of her own, she made a point to take care of everyone she knew. As a child, Somalia was shy and kept to herself. She was bullied for her ears and lanky body. She was bullied from the first day of middle school to the end of high school. As she got older, the thicker her skin became…..the stronger the woman stood.
As daughter of legendary Jazz Musician, Carter Jefferson who toured with the likes of Little Richard,
Jimi Hendrix, Art Blakey, Mongo Santamaria, Woody Shaw and Fort Apache Band, Kamala was
endowed with a rich and prolific musical origin. A 4th generation Chelsea-Manhattan native of
Indigenous & African American, Puerto-Rican and Cuban roots, Kamala’s multi-cultural upbringing
provided an early introduction to Downtown culture and led her into New York’s vibrant nightlife
community which laid the foundation for her musical expertise and flavorful edge. Specializing in
music spanning 70’s, 80’s, 90s to present and many genres, most notably Soulful House music, Disco
& Soul, classic Hip Hop, Global Lounge, & more, Kamala masterfully mixes and weaves her sets
together with passion and grace. Conjuring moods that speak to her musical journey.
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Angelica Alam is a financial services professional with over six years of experience in treasury and trade services at various blue chip banking institutions on Wall Street. Prior to joining the financial sector, Angelica held strategy, operations, sales, marketing and business development roles in the media and entertainment industry with roles at major national broadcasters, including VH1 Classic and MTV Networks. (more…)
Mother. Daughter. Sister. Refugee. Philanthropist. Fatima Rahmati was born in Kabul, Afghanistan and at the age of 4, she and her family fled as refugees from Afghanistan to Australia. Shortly after their arrival, her father passed, leaving behind three young children and a widowed wife. (more…)
The first time I ever tried yoga I hated it. I was a swimmer and was used to the push and grind of more, more, more.
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Nancy Arroyo Ruffin is an award-winning author and motivational speaker. She’s also a devoted wife and loving mother. But what makes us love her is that she is a champion for women’s empowerment and preserving the richness of Latino culture. (more…)
As the final minutes of my 20’s melt away into oblivion, I am struck by the lack of alarm I expected to feel about entering a new decade of my life. When I was younger, I always thought turning 30 was going to be a full-on existential crisis, complete with tears, locking oneself in a bathroom, and a drastic haircut. I expected it to be kind of like a bad break-up on steroids. Yet, now that 30 is actually here, instead of feeling the anticipated pressures, I feel exactly the same as I did when I was 29, but thankfully NOT the same as I did when I was 20.
