TONYA WILLIAMS | ACTRESS, PRODUCER & ADVOCATE

ROCHELLE GRAYSON | MENTOR & FACILITATOR

Rochelle Grayson, Founder of Mosaic Accelerator, is a serial entrepreneur and digital media executive with over 30 years of experience in business, technology, entertainment, and education. Rochelle launched the Mosaic Accelerator to support, mentor, guide, and invest in non-technical, BIPOC women founders. Rochelle is also an Executive-in-Residence (EiR) with New Ventures BC. She has led and launched several start-ups and innovative digital initiatives, working with a combination of both small and large companies, as well as highly analytical and creative individuals. Rochelle is equally comfortable discussing artificial intelligence (AI), digital business models, digital marketing trends and strategies, online community building, and internet and mobile technologies.

Rochelle holds an MBA in Finance and Business Policy from the University of Chicago, and Six Sigma (Black Belt) Master Certifications in Product Development Management and Business Facilitation. Her career has taken her from New York to Silicon Valley and now to Vancouver, Canada.

REENA SAMRA | FACILITATOR, BIPOC HEALING & WELLNESS CENTRE

Reena (she/her) is the founder and owner of BIPOC Healing and Wellness Centre, a culturally-informed private counselling centre in Edmonton that specializes in therapy for BIPOC grief and racial trauma, and is committed to addressing race and culture in the therapy room. Reena graduated from the University of Calgary with a Master’s degree in Social Work with a Clinical Specialization in Trauma-Informed Practice. Reena is a settler on this land, as a child of immigrants from Punjab, India, who holds multiple intersecting identities of privilege and oppression. As a BIPOC therapist, she has been working for the past decade to center BIPOC mental health, through her commitment to bringing decolonization, anti-racism, intersectional feminism and social justice into her therapy supports for her community. Reena is an activist and advocate for the BIPOC community, through starting spaces for BIPOC grief healing and for support and psychoeducation for newcomer, immigrant and refugee survivors of trauma and sexual violence. She was recognized with Edify Edmonton’s Top 40 Under 40 2021 Award for her work with immigrant and racialized folks. Reena is currently pursuing a Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) through California Southern University, studying the impacts of racism, racial trauma, and racial grief on mental health.

SONI DASMOHAPATRA | FACILITATOR

Soni is a passionate consultant, educator and arts practitioner who uses yoga and somatics as pathways of self discovery, healing and artistic creation. Soni has built her career for over twenty years in the sectors of government, higher learning, non-profit, public education and philanthropy, across Canada and Internationally. Currently she is an assistant professor at MacEwan University, Arts and Cultural Management Department. Soni has a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Alberta, a Masters in Public Administration (MPA) from the University of Victoria and a certificate in gender studies and human rights from Oxford University, UK. Soni has been involved in the Alberta arts, cultural and Heritage sector since she was a child. She is a trained classical Indian Kathak dancer and yoga teacher. She has been a cultural administrator in the areas of Canadian Heritage and Arts in Alberta and Ontario. Check out her UNESCO article on Arts Education in a Post National State.

CRYSTLE LIGHTNING | AWARD-WINNING ACTRESS & PERFORMING ARTIST

Crystle Lightning (Canadian Screen Award winner for Best Actress in a Drama Series, 2021) is a performing artist from the Enoch Cree Nation in Alberta. She began her journey in show business at the age of nine when the Lightning family moved from Canada to Los Angeles. There, Crystle landed her first lead role in the feature film 3 Ninjas: Knuckle Up, and has been working in the industry ever since. Lightning trained at the prestigious Beverly Hills Playhouse—one of the oldest and most respected acting schools in Los Angeles. 

Her film and television credits include Outlander (Starz), Trickster (The CW), The Good Doctor (ABC), Three Pines (Prime Video), Lawmen: Bass Reeves (Paramount+), Spirit Rangers (Netflix), Fancy Dance (Apple TV) opposite Oscar-nominated actress Lily Gladstone, and Mary Margaret Road Grader, produced by George R. R. Martin. She currently recurs on Ghosts (CBS). Crystle recently booked a recurring role on the The upcoming USA Network drama series “Anna Pigeon” which will begin filming Fall of 2025. 

Lightning is the Co-Creator and Director of the smash-hit musical “Bear Grease” – An Indigenous twist on the 1978 classic Grease, which made its Off-Broadway debut in New York City this summer! The production broke new ground being the longest running Indigenous musical in Broadway history. She is also set to Co-Direct her first feature film, Salesman of the Year, alongside her mother, acclaimed filmmaker Georgina Lightning

HENRY CLOUD ANDRADE | PLAYWRIGHT, ACTOR & COMPOSER

Henry Cloud Andrade (Wixárika/Mexican) is a Playwright, Actor (Yellowstone, Hey, Viktor!), a member of the freestyle improv troupe Free Daps (Downtown Disney, Florida), and a former world record holder for Longest Freestyle Rap (18 hours). He is also Crystle Lightning’s partner in rhyme and co-creator of the smash-hit Indigenous musical, “Bear Grease”.

Together, Henry and Crystle form the powerhouse duo LightningCloud—playwrights, composers, and artists committed to trailblazing work in the performing arts. Winners of the Aboriginal/Indigenous Music Awards for Best Hip Hop Duo and Best New Artists, they also claimed championship titles in both LA’s Power 106 Battle for the Best and NYC’s Hot 97 Who’s Next?. Their success led to production by legendary producer Timbaland and a coveted spot on Power 106’s POWERHOUSE TOUR, opening for artists like Kendrick Lamar, Nicki Minaj, A$AP Rocky, The Game and Chris Brown.

SABLE SWEETGRASS | STORYTELLER & PLAYWRIGHT

Sable Sweetgrass is a member of the Kainai Nation and was born and raised in Calgary/Mohkinstsis. Sable is an Awoowaakii /transgender storyteller/playwright. Sable has been an active member in the Calgary Indigenous community working for organizations such as the Calgary Friendship Centre, Making Treaty 7 and The Glenbow Museum. She is a founding member of the Urban Society of Aboriginal Youth (USAY) and volunteered for The Glenbow Museum, Calgary Aboriginal Arts Awareness Society and the Native Student Centre at the U of C. She is a graduate of the English/Creative Writing program at the University of Calgary and received her MFA in Creative Writing from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In 2006 Sable won 1st place in the Canadian Aboriginal Arts – Story Writing Contest. She has written and performed on stage for Making Treaty 7 and her debut play, Awoowaakii, has won Outstanding New Play by both The Betty Mitchell Awards and the Calgary Theatre Critics Awards. Sable also supports and advocates for Indigenous arts through her work as the Director of Reconciliation and Good Relations with Calgary Arts Development.