SERISHA IYAR

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CANADA, 25

Project: Leading in Colour
Focus Area: Refugee and Asylum Advocacy

Serisha is the Founder and Executive Director of Leading in Colour – a community organization dedicated to providing racialized youth with the necessary tools, resources and skills to conduct advocacy efforts in their communities.

Serisha was born on the traditional territory of the Kanien'kehà:ka in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal, where her family arrived as refugees from iKwaZulu-Natali/KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. After spending most of her life on Huron territory in the small town of Georgetown, ON, she now resides in Odawa/Ottawa, the unceded territory of the Algonquin.

Drawing from liberation and womanist theologies, Serisha is committed to practicing foundational frameworks of anti-oppression like decolonization, anti-racism and intersectional feminism. These frameworks guide her work with Leading in Colour, which she started after the firsthand experience of race-based rejection in activism. Serisha decided to create a space where racialized youth leaders could learn from one another and mobilize. Leading in Colour trains young people to become activists for their communities, and demand justice and change for oppressed people.

Serisha holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science & World Religions from McGill University, and has worked in government relations, human rights, advocacy campaigning, public policy and grassroots activism.

More: Twitter : @leadingincolour
Instagram : @leadingincolour
Facebook : @leadingincolour

“I realize it is up to my generation to make these changes, specifically diaspora generations.”