Ayaan Ismail (she/her) is an African Muslim Refugee-settler on the stolen and occupied ancestral homelands of the Coast Salish Peoples; the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. She is invested in community organizing, furthering Afrocentric decolonial practices in her life/community, and creating youth spaces that center the leadership, lived experiences and expertise of Black and Indigenous youth. She holds a BA in International Studies and is currently an MA student in the Migration and Diaspora Studies Program at Carleton University. Ayaan is a founding member of the Black in BC Mutual Aid Fund Team which is raising funds to support Black folks in BC impacted by Covid-19. She is working on a project, Dreams of Humanity: Refugee Voices which aims to create space for Refugees living in what’s colonially known as Vancouver to share their stories. She is a founding member of the Afrocentrism Conference that organized the first ever Afrocentric conference in Vancouver with a focus on decolonizing academia. Amid a global pandemic and fight for Black liberation and Indigenous Sovereignties across Turtle Island, Ayaan is being sustained by mutual support and community care from Black and Indigenous youth.