Guyanese Dawn Iona Fox Win Prestigious OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Awards

Soyini George is the designer behind the Washington, DC, handmade baby brand, Yinibini Baby. As a little girl growing up in Guyana, Soyini’s learned to sew from watching her Great Aunt Jean cut, pin and put fabrics together to create stylish clothing.  That was just the beginning of Soyini’s love for art, design and color. One year after graduating from college, and with $100, a dining room table and tons of motivation, she started the Yinibini brand of…

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently announced the appointment of Catherine Pollard of Guyana as Under-Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management. She will succeed Tegegnework Gettu of Ethiopia, to whom the Secretary-General is grateful for his dedicated service and able leadership. Since 2014, Pollard served as Assistant Secretary-General for General Assembly and Conference Management, prior to which she served as Assistant Secretary-General for Human Resources Management from 2008 to 2014.  She was previously Chief of Staff…

Vannetta Seecharran has been influencing art and design in the jewellery field for nearly 20 years. Born in Guyana in 1969, the London-based jewellery teacher migrated at the age of 11 with her parents to New York City. She graduated in 1991 from the prestigious Parsons School of Art with a BA in Product Design, and in 1996 earned an MFA in Jewellery from State University of New York at New Paltz.   She later moved…

Rianna Soraya Scipio is a British television host, journalist, producer and director who is perhaps best known for her work on UK national television, as a prime time television host (presenter) of such flagship series as the BBC‘s Watchdog, Holiday, UK’s Worst…?, Newsroom Southeast, Wide World (Channel 5), and on BBC Radio 2 and Choice FM (Global Radio). Scipio’s outstanding awards and achievements include, breaking record figures as a host within the BBC’s ‘entertainment features’…

As the Executive Director of the Guyanese & American Business & Professional Council (GABPC), Shanie Persaud works tirelessly to develop stronger ties between Guyana and the United States in an effort to forge a closer relationship between the business and professional communities of both nations. GABPC is the first and leading Guyanese-American business organization that provides a vast array of services aimed at promoting and advancing business relations between Guyanese and Americans. Persaud move to…

Margaux Rusita (Margaux Wong) is a fashion and textile designer originally from Guyana, South America. She was first introduced to textile design while in Secondary school but was introduced to the sewing machine as a young child. For the past ten years, Margaux has worked as a freelance designer. She was in 2007, employed as the Personal Assistant to the late Catherine Walker, who for many years designed countless special pieces for the late Princess…

The festival of Holi can be regarded as a celebration of the Colors of Unity & Brotherhood – an opportunity to forget all differences and indulge in unadulterated fun. It has traditionally been celebrated in high spirit without any distinction of cast, creed, color, race, status or sex. It is one occasion when sprinkling colored powder (‘gulal’) or colored water on each other breaks all barriers of discrimination so that everyone looks the same and…

A few weeks ago, people across America celebrated Veterans Day in honors military personnel who served in the United States Armed Forces, but sometimes life after service isn’t easy. That’s where Sharmin Prince comes in. As the program director for veterans services at Volunteers of America-Greater New York, Sharmin is running the Battle Buddy Bridge, a peer-to-peer program that trains veterans to help other veterans deal with a mental health diagnosis. “In basic training, you are…

“I Want to Live Again” is about a woman’s struggle to make it in America after immigrating from Guyana in South America. It deals with issues which she had to overcome to survive in Brooklyn,New York. The stories are all true but names have been changed to protect the identities of relatives and close friends. The events take place in urban settings and they are not typical of all immigrants. The book shows that anyone…

Last Saturday evening the The Museum of Art Fort Lauderdale in Florida hosted the  “Translation of Art” Fashion Event showcasing designs from 10 countries, including Guyana, Africa and many Caribbean Islands.  Guyanese Designer, Sonia Noel, presented her “First Resort” collection to a very impressed crowd of fashion enthusiasts.   This is what event coordinator, Ruth Michel Dupoux, had to say about Sonia and her collection “The museum of art of Lauderdale was illuminated last Saturday by…

This past weekend the people of Guyana felt a sense of pride as Rafieya Aasieya Husain became the first Guyanese in over 40 years to place at the Miss World Pageant. The 22-year-old beauty queen, who is a native of Essequibo County, was one of the top 10 Finalists named at the Miss World competition finale held on Sunday at the Excel London ICC Auditorium. Rafieya also won the ‘Beauty With a Purpose Title’, which…

Grace Nichols is a Guyanese poet.  She was born in Georgetown, Guyana in 1950, the fifth of seven children. She was raised in the village of Highdam and attended the school where her father worked as headmaster and her mother taught piano lessons. At age eight she moved with her family to Georgetown, and at age sixteen she left high school with the hope of becoming a teacher. Earning a degree in communications at the University…

Lisa Punch is a talented singer, songwriter, dancer and actress. She was born on September 4, 1992 in Guyana; the daughter of John Errol Punch and Nafieza Aiana Daniels and is the eldest of five siblings. Lisa spent the first few years of her life in Berbice before relocating to Georgetown. By age 11, she was performing across the country and appearing on local TV shows such as Talent Exclusive. At her alma mater, North Georgetown Secondary…

Vogue.com has named Letitia Wright as one of the actresses to watch in 2018.  According to the fashion and beauty website, the Guyanese-born, London-raised actress will conquer the silver screen alongside Chadwick Boseman in 2018’s Black Panther before reprising her role as Shuri in Avengers: Infinity War. Expect her to swap out her superhero duds for pieces from Burberry and Prada. Back in February we shared that Letitia landed a role in the 2018 Marvel Comics…

Listening is not only a polite gesture, it’s also one of the most important skills you can have.  Good listening skills will help you to succeed in your personal and professional life.  Many great leaders are also great listeners.  So listen once in a while; it’s amazing what you’ll here.  The word “Listen” rearranged will give you “Silent.