Our Directors
The BIDC leadership team are members of Black and Indigenous communities and are professionals within the spatial design fields and public realm + art, where they continue to experience the under-representation, mis-representation, and discrimination of these communities in those fields, working towards change through Black + Indigenous solidarity.
Lys Divine Ndemeye (she/her)
Founder +
Co-Director
Design Cypher Director
Lys Divine Ndemeye is an award-winning landscape designer, artist, and educator (Adjunct professor at UBC School of Architecture + Landscape Architecture) with ancestral roots from Burundi.
Divine is the Founder and Principal of Remesha Design Lab, a research-design firm that provides services in landscape design, public art, and community engagement. Remesha Design operates within the framework of decoloniality, Indigeneity and Afrofuturism; a school of thought that combines ancient wisdom from Africa with technology and creativity to envision social change and alternative futures.
Divine works to center Black and Indigenous World Views into landscape systems. She focuses on community empowerment, sustainability, and community-led design approaches. Prior to pursuing a career in design, Divine worked in different municipalities in strategic and urban planning, and has over 10 years of experience in community building and engagement.
Divine is the founder and Co-Director of the Black+Indigenous Design Collective and is also the host and producer of the Design Unmuted podcast, a platform that elevates marginalized voices in design, art and all things creative.
Sierra Tasi Baker, K̓esugwilakw (they/she/he)
Co-Director
MST Futurism Director
Sierra is an Indigiqueer Urban Design Consultant at Sky Spirit Studio. Sierra is from the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Úxwumixw (Squamish Nation) and is also Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw/Musga̱mgw Dzawada̱’enuxw, Łingít (Tlingit), and Magyar/Hungarian. Sierra’s ancestral Kwak̓wala name, K̓esugwilakw, means “Creator” or “Creative One” or “One Who Carves Wealth/the Supernatural into the World”. Sierra holds a Masters of Science in Sustainable Urbanism from Bartlett School of City Planning at University College London, and has a degree in Environmental Design from UBC SALA. They received awards in Design Leadership and Youth Leadership for their work in the community from the City of North Vancouver and SALA’s Environmental Design Program. Sierra focuses on decolonization through Etiological Design, combining Indigenous design and research methodologies, oral history, primary archival research, Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK), Story of Place, Trauma Informed Design Practices, Two-Eyed Seeing and Coast Salish design techniques to develop unique architectural and urban planning solutions rooted in Indigenous sovereignty and Coast Salish values.
Krystal Paraboo (she/her)
Co-Director
Public Art Intensive Director
Krystal Paraboo is an award-winning independent Curator, Public Art Planner, Consultant and Writer based on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. Krystal takes on Public Art Consulting and Independent Curation projects through Paraboo Projects, and is currently a Public Art Planner with the City of Vancouver.
Trained in art historical & curatorial methodologies, Krystal’s practice explores the strengthening of visual narratives through intersectional socio-political frameworks, identities, and stewarding of cultural solidarity movements as a decolonial processes working towards future building.
Krystal has a decade experience working in public and private arts institutions with a diverse set of artists in various stages of their practice. Her current, on-going research in public art centres commissioning approaches that restore and enhance public sites, land use, and communities through placemaking. From 2020-2021 Krystal developed and led the Black Strathcona Resurgence Project working towards the revitalization of the intersection of Hogan’s Alley and Chinatown through multiple mural projects. She also led the grassroots anti-racism initiative Sector Equity for Anti-Racism in the Arts (SEARA), dedicated to community mutual aid and raising over $300k across arts organizations for BIPOC artists affected by COVID-19.
Krystal was the recipient of the 2022 Women of Distinction Award in Arts, Culture & Design, and the co-recipient of the 2021 Heritage B.C. Award in Education, Awareness and Communication for her curatorial mural project Hope Through Ashes: A Requiem for Hogan’s Alley alongside artist Anthony Joseph.
Program Facilitators
Ginger
Gosnell-Myers
(she/her)
Program Co-Lead
(MST Futurism)
Ginger Gosnell-Myers is Nisga'a and Kwakwak'awakw, whose 20 plus year career challenging colonial systems is creating new pathways for radical change. She is the first Indigenous Fellow with the Simon Fraser University Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue, where she focuses on decolonization and urban Indigenous policy and planning. Recently, Ginger supported the development of the City of Vancouver’s Climate Justice Charter.
She played an integral role in making Vancouver the world's first official City of Reconciliation, which was an outgrowth of her work on the landmark Urban Indigenous Peoples Study, the first comprehensive research of its kind in Canada. Ginger moves strategically from words to actions, draws strength from Indigenous communities and speaks truth to power.
Ginger is the chair of Greenpeace Canada’s Board of Directors and currently lives in the Squamish Nation community of Eslha7an.
Rocío Vasquez
(she/her)
Program Coordinator
Rocío serves as a dedicated Program Coordinator in the non-profit sector, fluent in three languages and deeply passionate about social justice, anti-racism, and solidarity. She excels in managing and coordinating programs that drive organizational goals and support impactful initiatives.
Rocío is known for their collaborative approach, working closely with teams and community stakeholders to ensure program success and promote inclusivity.
Our Board
The incoming BIDC board is largely new members of Black or Indigenous ancestry, bringing a breadth of lived experience to the table along with valuable professional skills. This board has committed to the mission and ethos of BIDC and act to support the Directors and Teams in several capacities.
