Priscilla Cherry

Activist, Artist, Care taker, Change Agent, Connector, Event planner, Foodie, Global soul, Idea generator, Journalist, Producer, Project manager, Social entrepreneur

Trinidadian-Canadian, Priscilla Cherry (she/elle), is a free-spirited host artist and joy activist with a passion for people and loves to collaborate creatively with equally uplifting energies. Recognizing a representation gap in media and the mental health sector, Priscilla applied her lived experience navigating mental health concerns and combined it with her passion for storytelling. Having worked with the Mental Health Commission of Canada, Entertainment Tonight Canada, Live with Kelly, Sesame Street, and Telus STORYHIVE, Priscilla amalgamates her love for play, creativity and spirituality by hosting workshops and events all in the hopes of sharing the message of mental health futurism; “we are all ancestors in the making.” Priscilla is the co-chair at TEDxYYC in her hometown Moh'kins'tsis (Calgary), and is focused on bringing forth under-told and mis-told stories from her Caribbean and other Racialized communities. In her spare time, Priscilla volunteers as an on-air programmer at CJSW 90.9 FM and co-hosts a weekly neo-soul and afrobeat morning talk and music show called Soular Power. As a certified mental health Peer Supporter and media creative, Priscilla firmly believes in the art of hosting; the power of sharing our lived experiences and personal narratives; and that everyone has something to share that someone else would want to learn from, relate to, or at least be curious about.

Anti-Oppression; Arts & Creativity; Creative Placemaking; Lived Experience; Mental Health Peer Support; Play as resistance; Relational Learning; Somatic Abolitionism; Spirituality; Storytelling; and Becoming a better ancestor.

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” - Jimi Hendrix

Communications, Curations, Facilitation, Hosting, Lifelong Learning, Peer Support, Storytelling

I remember learning about TED in high school, falling in love with so many of the 'ideas worth spreading', and thinking to myself, "I'm going to be a TED speaker one day!". 2020 changed my life when someone shared with me Sonali Fiske's talk on "White Dominance: Interrogate Your Discomfort". I enrolled in her speaker's training program, BIWoC Revolutionaries Take the Mic, met incredibly powerful women from all corners of the world and that same year, another friend put my name forward to host TEDxYYC in my hometown, Moh'kins'tsis (Calgary), Alberta. It felt kismet and one step closer to my dream of being a TED speaker, I joined the Curations committee the following year as a curator and coach, and the rest is still being written - including my own idea worth spreading!

Chess, cooking, rollerblading, procrastinating and assembling IKEA furniture.