Introducing the Women of Canada Making Waves in Street Culture #HERFORSHE

Erica Jacobs – Founder of 100% Skate Club

Erica sees skating as an artform, something that lets her fully express herself as an individual. She wanted others to experience the same. So she founded the 100% Skate Club in Calgary,  a non-profit that helps girls and non-binary people embrace skateboard culture as their own. Here, she mentors the next generation of rippers, knowing it’s key to shifting the skate scene to include everyone and represent the whole community.

Fitriya Mohamed – Founder of the Muslim Women’s Summer Basketball League (MWSBL)

The founder of the Muslim Women’s Summer Basketball League (MWSBL) and an ambassador of the Hijabi Ballers, Fitriya created the inclusive space she always looked for as young girl. She was the first Muslim woman to win Female Athlete of the year at her highschool and was determined to pursue a career in the sports industry. Now with the community she’s helped foster, she hopes to inspire the next generation of Muslim women hoopers around the world.

Marion Willis – Advocate for the Homeless

Marion feels like the universe aligned so she could be a catalyst for change. As the founder of St. Boniface Street Links in Winnipeg, she’s been an advocate for the homeless for 40 years. Her goal is to change how we treat vulnerable people in our communities, how we understand and address mental health and addiction, and to give a voice to those who otherwise go unheard.

Natalya Amres – Sustainable Fashion Designer

A sustainable fashion designer and business owner, Natalya is completely re-imagining streetwear on her own terms. Self-taught and endlessly independent, she goes beyond what’s been done before, creating from pure passion and following no-one else’s rules. And being sustainable comes naturally—because why buy something new, when gems await in vintage and thrift shops?

Yasmeen Persad – Trans Activist

Yasmeen is the trans program coordinator for Trans People of Colour project (TPOC) at The 519 community organization and a research coordinator for Trans Women HIV Research Initiative (TWI RI) Women’s College Hospital in Toronto. She has worked over the past 15 years with Trans intersectional communities, and service providers to create, reduce, and allow access for Trans folks to Social Services across the Province of Ontario.