Lilly Bekele-Piper

Lilly Bekele-Piper is a multidisciplinary creative, cultural curator and communications strategist working at the intersection of storytelling, justice and joy. Born in Ethiopia with a career spanning Africa and the global diaspora, her work celebrates the traditions and futures of East Africa through visual and digital storytelling, as well as textile and fashion design. As founder of Selam & Hello Media and the Pan-African textile brand Amina, Lilly creates platforms that honor the culture, power and joy of Africa and her diaspora.

@elillykiya

@selamandamina

Yonas Tadesse

Yonas Tadesse is a self-taught photographer and director from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. His work focuses on reshaping African narratives and highlighting the continent’s rich history. Since debuting at Addis Foto Fest in 2014, his photographs have appeared in th international media, including The New York Times, TIME, CNN, Al Jazeera, The Guardian, BBC and Vogue Italia. He has collaborated with the United Nations, AFP/Getty Images, WaterAid and GIZ, while also giving back to his community through workshops and mentorship with Addis Foto Fest. His practice is driven by a commitment to portraying unique human experiences through visual storytelling.

yonastadesse.com

@yonas_tadesse_

Donica Merhazion

Donica Merhazion is an educator, writer, and cultural storyteller based in Nairobi, Kenya. She teaches at the International School of Kenya, where her work centres on inclusive, trauma-informed learning and on creating environments that prioritise psychological safety, self-reflection and growth. Her practice emphasises the role of story in shaping identity, belonging and historical understanding. She is the author of "Born at the End of the World," a historical fiction novel inspired by her parents’ lived experiences and rooted in East African history. The novel grew from a desire to honour oral storytelling traditions and to explore how understanding our individual and collective histories functions not only as memory but as a living source of resilience, joy and resistance across generations. Donica’s writing and teaching are deeply intertwined. In both spaces, she examines how culture sustains people through disruption and change, and how storytelling can strengthen communities by restoring continuity, dignity and voice. Her work reflects a belief that culture is not a static inheritance, but an active force that allows communities to survive, resist and create meaning forward. Through her writing, classroom practice and public conversations, Donica invites audiences to consider how understanding one’s own identity can serve as a source of strength and imagination, and how storytelling itself can be an act of hope.

dmerhazion.com

@donica_merhazion

Kevin Mwachiro

Kevin Mwachiro is a Kenyan writer, podcaster, queer activist and journalist whose media and communications career spans more than two decades. He began as a journalist with the BBC, contributing to its radio, television and digital platforms. A self-described custodian of people’s stories, Kevin is deeply committed to amplifying marginalised voices. His debut book, "Invisible – Stories from Kenya’s Queer Community," was the first of its kind in the country, breaking ground in documenting queer narratives. He later led the editorial team for the publications "We’ve Been Here," a moving collection that shares the stories of LGBTQI Kenyans over 50, and the anthology "Rainbow Childhoods." Kevin was also part of the team behind "When Faith Loves”"and "Boldly Queer – African Perspectives on Same-Sex Sexuality and Gender Diversity." As a writer and cultural commentator, Kevin contributes to various media outlets and literary journals, offering a nuanced and courageous perspective on LGBTQI issues in Kenya and across Africa. In 2017, Kevin launched Nipe Story, a storytelling podcast that brings African short fiction to life through audio. Nipe Story was one of 13 African podcasts that were recipients of the initial African Podcast Fund initiative that was setup by Spotify in 2022. He is also the co-founder of the Out Film Festival, East Africa’s first LGBTQI film festival. Kevin holds a degree from Daystar University in Kenya and an MA in Radio Production from Bournemouth University in the UK. He is also an alumnus of The Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Centre residency programme.

@kevmwachiro

podcast: nipe story

Katungulu Mwendwa

Katungulu Mwendwa’s approach to design can be described as a curious sceptic’s review of the perceptions of Kenyan, African and female identity. Nurtured within the creative ambiance of a bass-playing architect father and a plant-loving psychologist mother Katungulu’s path to a creative career was not only inevitable but celebrated. Early days spent amid the treasures of her grandmother’s curio shop ignited her curiosity, especially towards the intricate handiwork of Akamba artisans that adorned the shelves. Years later, her pursuit led her to the United Kingdom, where she embarked on a transformative journey, earning her BA in Fashion Design from the University of Creative Arts. This period sharpened her design acumen and kindled the dream of establishing her own fashion line. Driven by a yearning for her Kenyan roots and inspired by the nation’s artisans, she returned home to Kenya, igniting the birth of her fashion brand, Katush. Fuelled by un-ending curiosity and a commitment to meld innovation and tradition, Katungulu’s journey has been an investigation—an exploration into the core of human perception within history and culture, meticulously unravelling how these perceptions resonate in the contemporary world. Every Katush collection begins with this enquiring spirit, and it is within the process that the essence thrives—collaborating with a community of skilled artisans, each collection breathes vitality into traditional craftsmanship by honouring the individuals behind the craft. Rooted in environmental consciousness, empathy for humanity, and a profound reverence for Africa’s opulent heritage, Katungulu‘s insatiable curiosity reframes entrenched notions of African and feminine identities.

@katushnairobi

katushnairobi.com

Njoki Karu

Njoki Karu is a singer songwriter, performer and certified Music Therapist (MT-BC). Her music draws you in, tugs on your heart as Njoki weaves her narratives through the soundscapes of Folk, Soul, Gospel and Traditional Kenyan Music, showing that humanity is not a solo experience, but one that is and was meant to be shared. An artist of preeminent distinction and recognition within the Kenyan music industry, Njoki has gained acclaim over writing songs such as Omba, and putting her own heart-rending twist on old spiritual songs such as Binadamu, and Bwana U Sehemu. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, her music has been featured in critically acclaimed Kenyan films notably ‘Rafiki’, ‘Country Queen’ and ‘This Is Life’. Njoki’s songs draw from themes of love, the journey of life, our own fears and insecurities, freedom and faith in humanity. Njoki has also worked as a Music Director for Too Early For Birds, a renowned theatre production in Kenya. Together with Newman Owor, a guitarist and composer of prestige, she has released two EPs; Tawasifu ya Moyo in 2020, and Anchor in 2021, and her debut album Mwīhoko: Ūtheri wa Ngoro in February of 2025.

@njokikaru

Iona McCreath

Iona McCreath is a designer, researcher and strategist working at the forefront of regenerative fashion and textiles in East Africa. She was the creative director of KikoRomeo, a pioneering Kenyan fashion house founded in 1996, for seven years. Her practice bridges design, research and cultural strategy, with a strong emphasis on regenerative practices and sustainability, circularity and heritage preservation. Drawing on her academic background in sociology from the London School of Economics and her time at Central Saint Martin’s, Iona explores the ways fashion can drive social change and economic empowerment. She has collaborated with artisans and textile communities across Africa to create collections that honour tradition while engaging with contemporary global aesthetics. Her work brings together artisan communities and innovation systems and has been featured in international media. Of note is her production work on the film 'Temple Road for Yoshita 1967' that won the grand prize at ASVOFF 17 and the chapter she authored “Made in Kenya: A language of being” as part of The Museum at FIT’s exhibition and publication 'Africa’s Fashion Diaspora.’

@iona_mccreath

Omer Eltigani

Omer Eltigani is a London-based Sudanese chef, food archivist and the author of ‘The Sudanese Kitchen’ (2025), the first Sudanese cookbook in English. His work focuses on the preservation of traditional recipes and food culture as invaluable cultural heritage that can easily be lost due to the erasure that has befallen the Sudanese people over the past two years of war. Omer enjoys travel and learning languages, and wishes to continue writing to tell a host of Sudanese stories.

@sudanesekitchen

Lidewij Edelkoort

Co-Founder World Hope Forum

Li Edelkoort is a trend forecaster, publisher, humanitarian, design educator and exhibition curator. From 2015-2020 she was the Dean of Hybrid Design Studies at Parsons in New York where she founded a Textile Masters and the New York Textile Month festival. Her thought-provoking writings and podcasts have become increasingly popular at a time when she is regarded as an activist and champion for change. In 2020, she co-founded the World Hope Forum with Philip Fimmano as a platform to inspire the creative community to rebuild a better society. Launched in 2020, PROUD SOUTH is a mesmerising visual book that celebrates the creative forces from the southern parts of the planet. Through the colourful and expressive lens of contemporary fashion, photography, styling and art, Edelkoort and Lili Tedde bring together emerging and established talents from wide and far, illustrating that the axis of global creativity has indeed dramatically shifted. In 2025, Edelkoort is launching a second edition of PROUD SOUTH focusing on craft and design. Of the movement, she says, “A southern generation of creatives is standing up, expressing local craft, embracing regional materials, recognising ancestral practices and cherishing indigenous values.”

@lidewijedelkoort