Gavin Sheppard is the founder of I.C. Visions and co-founder of the Remix Project. He has been involved in community development and the cultural industries professionally since the age of 17. A board member of Schools Without Borders and the Chair of the Youth Organizing Committee with the Laidlaw Foundation, Gavin is consistently building & networking organizations and helping organizations grow to their full potential. He has been an artist & producer manager to Rochester aka Juice and Tone Mason Inc. as well as a consultant for countless artists, producers, and companies throughout Canada involved in the hip-hop & cultural industries. As the Executive Director for the Remix Project, Gavin is charged with the overall development of the program as well as overseeing the day to day operations. Gavin is a strong advocate for both young people and the arts throughout the world, speaking regularly at venues as diverse as the Canadian Heritage All-Staff retreat, to conferences for UN Habitat and the Organization of American States on safe cities. Gavin was also a member of Mayor Miller’s community safety secretariat, a co-founder of the Grassroots Youth Collaborative (GYC) and the South Etobicoke Youth Assembly (SEYA). Gavin is a 2010 TED Fellow, a 2010 Vital People award recipient from the Toronto Community Foundation and is a 2011 Yale World Fellow.

Derek Jancar (aka Drex) is a co-founder of the I.C. Visions program and the Remix project. Having founded the wildly popular recording arts program at I.C. Visions, Drexs intuitive understanding of the youth landscape has helped shape Remix into the leading program it is today. His specific role at the programs have evolved over the years as was needed, to where he is now the Resource Coordinator. Drex is our living, breathing incarnation of Get Money, Make Change for the organization. His main focuses with Remix are grant applications, reporting and HR. An artist and an entrepreneur, Derek is an influential role model for the youth community in Toronto. He has worn many hats throughout his career, from event planner and promoter, to performing and recording artist, to community organizer to project and artist management. Drexs mix of real life experience and critical theory has brought him to a position of leading authority on youth engagement and program management. Drex is also a co-founder of the Grassroots Youth Collaborative (GYC) and the South Etobicoke Youth Assembly (SEYA).

Adelaide “Addie” Gyamfi is a make it happen type of woman. Considered throughout the office as a “unicorn” in the world because she embodies the impossible duality of being a creative soul while also possessing a strong business acumen.

A poet and recording artist, Adelaide is a graduate of The Remix Project’s Recording Arts Program, 2010. It was during her time at Remix that Addie also completed an internship at Universal Music Canada – making her mark and earning high regard in the Lifestyle Marketing Department.

Our office manager and the anchor of The Remix Project’s administrative side, Addie’s strict professionalism and clever wit make her both a leader and valued team member both!

The artist, designer, promoter and entrepreneur – represents the new generation of urban artists. His ability to fuse his love of art and music matched with a unique understanding of marketing and advertising, has proven successful, in todays youth-driven market. With deep roots in hip-hop, Brocks innovative style remains relevant and continues to cross boundaries with a balance of both street and corporate credibility. Since graduating from Torontos Humber College of Applied Arts School, Brock has worked with clients ranging from Nike, FLOW 93.5FM, Nelly Furtado, Kardinal Offishall and Heineken. He has proven that with talent, passion and a sense of business, you can make it in the commercial art industry. As program leader of the Creative Arts Program at Remix, Brock remains focused. He is committed to maintaining his position as a trailblazer in the industry while striving for the balance of art, design and advertising, and educating. “Change occurs through difference, dare to be different and things will change.” Bryan Brock – 1998.

Agile began rapping in early high school and after a talent show win, he knew music was his passion. One talent show turned into many and the wins spread citywide. Born with a West Indian hustle, he wanted to capitalize on his newfound fame and JLJ Productions (a DJ crew he started with his friends) was born. While DJing independently and with his crew, by the end of high school, Agile began playing gigs with popular college/commercial radio stations across the city and soon fell in love with the element of production. He has since done production work with the likes of Nas, Kardinal Offishall, Dwele, Jully Black, Glenn Lewis, Ivana Santilli and FranknDank.Currently, Agile is working on his upcoming project, Reconstructed, expected to be released in the first quarter of 2011.

Program manager Ricki Bekzadeh just might have the clearest and most honest understanding of The Remix Project. A participant in Remix 1.0 our very first cycle, Rickis love and dedication to the program led him settling on the decision to finally pursue his formal education and enrolling in George Brown in the Child & Youth Work program. While in the program, Ricki applied to Remix to do his internship as a CYW. Earning his keep in so many ways, Remix invited Ricki for our first international trip, Remix to Rio de Janeiro, the result of which turned into the award-winning documentary Remix to Rio! Not stopping there Ricki soon graduated college at the top of his class, even winning an award for Commitment to Community Service. Based on Rickis work ethic and keen insight Remix made the decision to invite him to join Remixs board of directors on which he served for approximately 2 years. Stepping down from the board in late 2010 to begin working with The Remix Project as our original office manager, Rickis drive, determination, intimate knowledge of the program and authentic way of relating to our participants soon earned him a promotion to his current position of Program Manager. As Program Manager Rickis duties include the oversight and management of Remixs award-winning program streams, manage Remixs community partnerships, plan and deliver our outreach strategies with other Remix alumni and finally, to manage and deliver both our mentorship program and our exit strategies. Ricki is The Remix Project.

Kehinde Bah is a recognized advocate and Canadian Urban Leadership award winner (2004) in Toronto. An early visioner and co-founder of the Remix Project, Kehindes previous role on the Mayor’s Community Safety Panel was critical to securing the political and financial backing to give Remix birth. In time he assumed the role of the Outreach and Community Partnerships Coordinator. Kehinde works to secure mentors and partnerships for the project participants, implementing exit strategies for each youth, as well as conducting outreach in neighbourhoods across Toronto. He has been a youth leader for Boys and Girls Clubs of Ontario and Canada, the Chairperson of the Toronto Youth Cabinet, spokesperson for the PLAYWORKS Partnership, grant officer at the Laidlaw Foundation and much more. Kehindes efforts to promote an equitable playing field for marginalized youth has led him to engage with some of Canada’s political and grassroots leadership as well as supporting the individual empowerment of the many young people he’s come into contact with. Kehinde is also the Co-Chair on the Board of Directors at For Youth Initiative, a United Way Agency and member of the Grassroots Youth Collaborative.

Alison Isaac is a writer and educator who comes to The Remix Project with a diverse background that includes journalism, international coordination, and degrees in Communications and Spanish, and Education. As an educator, Alison has lived and worked in Mexico, and holds a B.Ed. with a focus on equity, diversity, and social justice in urban education. As a writer, she has lived in Ecuador where she wrote, edited and managed content for a travel guidebook. Alison has also contributed to numerous media internationally, including Okayplayer.

Jalani Morgan’s passion is portraiture and his objective lies in the ability to capture moments rather than solely a persons face. Additionally, Jalani heads up The Art of photography mentorship program at The Remix Project geared to inspire under-utilized youth . Through this project he has devised the curriculum, teaches the courses and recruits experts for various lecture series. His passion for creative culture and design feeds his photographic curiosity, positioning him as an emerging talent for his commercial and editorial work. Jalani’s client work includes projects with MAC Cosmetics, H&M, KitchenAid, Winners, among others. His publication highlights include Third Way Magazine, Sway magazine, FILLER magazine, Poor But Sexy magazine PROFIT Magazine and Off The Map Magazine. His ultimate goal is to make pictures that have enduring meaning – not just for today.

Yasser Pervaiz joins us as the Managing Director of Blackboard Marketing, a creative services agency recently established by The Remix Project. Yasser comes from a background of economics and finance, with a keen interest in marketing. Having worked in banking, taxation, as well as entrepreneurial ventures in the music and entertainment industries, Yasser brings his unique blend of experience to youth marketing and the emerging realm of social enterprise.

Tara Woodbury has over nine years of experience in creative education, content creation, communications and marketing. Tara acts currently as Program Director for City Life Film Project, a brainchild of Temple Street Productions and the Remix Project with a mandate to support at-risk youth in filmmaking. Previously, Tara was Manager, CFC Film Programs, responsible for overseeing the design, content and delivery of the Directors, Writers Producers and Editors Labs. She acted as the department’s key point person for over 200 of the Film Centre’s residents, Professionals-in-Residence, workshop leaders and film industry guests. Tara also acts as Producer of the Worldwide Short Film Festival’s Industry Forum, North America’s largest short film festival. As Producer, she programs all the panels and master classes, and attracts talent from around the world to share their expertise. She has worked with Women in Film in Television, National Screen Institute and enjoyed working in unit publicity on US and Canadian films in Winnipeg. Tara holds a BA in Communications and a diploma in Creative Communications. She is the author of the children’s book, Gristlemire: An Anti-Decoration. She has volunteered extensively with women’s organizations including, Women’s Legal Education and Action Fund (LEAF) and UN Women. She has produced conferences around positive female role models for high school girls, worked extensively with Aboriginal youth and currently volunteers with Covenant House. Tara has participated on many panels and industry events on Canadian film and diversity opportunities in Canada.

Amanda Parris – educator, student, emerging playwright, actor, and lover of the arts. As the Managing Director at Remix, Amanda brings a multifaceted experience and perspective to the table. She is the co-founder and Executive Director of Lost Lyrics, an organization which is part of an alternative education movement using Hip Hop culture to explore learning, self-identity and advocacy with young people of colour. Holding an Honours B.A. degree from York University in Political Science and Womens Studies, Amanda thrives on questioning the conventional. She is passionate about challenging the silences and disrupting the norms of the mainstream education system. Currently in the process of completing her first one-woman play entitled 32C, Amanda is interested in exploring theatre as a platform and stage for the exploration of marginalized voices.

Bryan Espiritu (aka be.) is a gifted illustrator, graphic designer and writer. Currently the head of Remixs Creative Arts program, Bryan has lent his considerable talents to many campaigns. His client base as a graphic designer consists of a diverse range including, corporate clients; Sony Playstation (Designed Canadian national campaign for Playstation 3), Axe Deoderant, New Era, and LiveStock Toronto, Recording Artists; Melanie Durrant, Drake, Mayhem Morearty, J Diggz, and FLOW 93.5s OTA LIVE. Bryan is the founder and Creative Lead for TheLegendsLeague (www.thelegendsleague.com) and Ideall Clothing. He has been an active member of the Toronto hip-hop community as a b-boy from 1993-98 and from 97 to the present as a visual artist and graphic designer. Bryan is the proud father of a beautiful 8 year old daughter.

Tyrone Edwards (aka t-rexxx) is a role model in his community. Outside of his work with The Remix Project, he is one of Toronto’s most popular promoters and has built himself a very profitable career as a young entrepreneur and co-founder of entertainment company Won-By-One. Through Won-By-One Tyrone has worked with a diverse portfolio including recording artist Ne-Yo, corporate giant Heineken and many more. Tyrone is one of the creative forces behind Toronto’s mega-popular Nostalgia and Shuffle Parties and the creative lead on the Tribute event series and is also the host of Much Music’s Rap City. Finally, Tyrone is also a co-founder of the Concrete Hoops Basketball Program in Canada and Swaziland.

Pro Logic is a child of the arts. Born to a music composer and film post supervisor, Pro Logic himself began writing music 8 years ago and has not skipped a note since. Armed with an ASR X, Trigger Finger and the Roland JV 1080, ProLogic creates the majority of his beats in the program Logic and then switches over to Pro-Tools for recording and mixing purposes. Also able to play guitar, bass, violin, and keys, the talented young producer incorporates many live elements into his work. As fitting of his heritage ProLogic’s style is one built around melodic soundscapes and hard hitting, intricately layered percussion. His sound is best described as cinematic, and has quickly become in high demand. One of our official DJ’s and an employee of the I.C. Visions & Remix Project for years now, ProLogic has stepped up to become the interim Recording Arts Program Leader while 40/40 is on leave. As one of the hardest working young producers and engineers in the game, Pro Logic has worked with recording artists: Joe Budden, Daetona, Point Blank, Wordsworth, Dead Prez, Termanology, Sean Price, Bishop, JD Era, Shawn Desmond, Brass Munk, J-Diggz, Untitled, Voyce, Maestro Fresh-Wes, Melanie Durant, Drex Inkredible, Eternia, Theology Three, Ken Masters, Nate Skeeze, George Reefah, Franz Thomas and Mayhem Morearty of Hustlemann Entertainment, Maple Music recording artists Rochester aka JUICE & Kasual Evans, Consise & Checkmate and Juno Award winners In Essence. As a DJ, Pro has also performed with Joe Budden, Pharoahe Monch, Ill Scarlet, and has done live performances on MTV, Much Music, and Musique Plus.

Noah Shebib (aka 40/40) is one of this countries top recording and mixing engineers. As such, we are blessed to have him as the head of our Media Arts program. A recent addition to the team, Noah bring with him a wealth of real world experience that includes recording and mixing for the likes of Nelly Furtado, Fefe Dobson, Jellestone, Divine Brown, Saukrates, Kardinal Offishall, Drake, Voyce, Buju Banton, Sizzla and k-os. He is a juno nominated gold record holding producer/engineer. Aside from his experience recording and mixing different professional recording artists, Noah is also (as previously hinted) an accomplished music producer with numerous major label credits under his belt. This multi-talented musician plays keys, brass, and bass. If your wondering where the name 40/40 comes from, it is because legend has it that the man has been known to work for 40 days and 40 nights to turn the aspirations and dreams of different artists into tangible reality.