Meet the Afrotechture Co-Founders

Two Sisters with an Entrepreneurial Spirit

Afrotechture is the brainchild of sisters Resa Solomon-St. Lewis and Tracey Solomon, two entrepreneurs with a passion for business and a love for their community. The dream of Afrotechture as a showcase for black businesses in Canada began decades ago during one of tour frequent, extensive  conversations about goods and services that were rooted in our cultural heritage and could service the broader community at large.

Community Building at the Core of EVERYTHING we do

Our parents hailed from Trinidad but actually met in Winnipeg, where we were both born. For as long as we can remember, our parents were involved in some type of community building activities - founding or chairing associations, building libraries, supporting scholarships and education, giving us a front row seat to the importance of giving back. As young children, together with our brother, we were frequently 'volunteered' to help out at various community events - at the time we may have fussed and protested, but clearly the lessons were imprinted as today, we continue to find ways to fuse our Caribbean heritage with our Canadian upbringing into our interests and our businesses.

The Afrotechture Team

Today, Resa is a chemical engineer by trade, as well as a Food Artisan and the  award-winning Chef-Owner of Baccanalle Foods in Ottawa. Tracey is the owner of Flatbush Granola Company and the co-founder of Kaiso, the Original Coconut Water Cocktail, both based in Brooklyn, where she currently resides.

We have longed to create a marketplace to showcase Black innovation and creativity and when technology and consumer demand finally merged to meet our passion, we jumped on the opportunity to bring our concept to the Ottawa, Canada market!

One of the most satisfying elements of launching Afrotechture has been the ability to work with amazingly talented black artisans and community partners who have provided us with incredible support and blessed us with their talented gifts as part of this venture.

Kalkidan (@drippin_soul on Instagram) - visual artist extraordinaire and the creator of our beautiful mural at 55 Byward Market Square

Saree Parry - is the award-winning owner of Saree Parry Design, an all-inclusive, in-home decorating and design service, creating beautiful interiors since 2013. Saree was instrumental in developing the layout and staging the look of the popup shop. It was wonderful collaborating with our high school mate from our Elmwood School days!

Gwen Madiba - Gwen is an Ottawa Community Builder and founder of the Equal Chance Foundation. Supporting our Community Is important to us personally and in business. This has always been the case through the values and involvement that we lived with our parents Dr. Andrew Solomon and Mrs. Huldah Solomon. We are honoured to support our community through the sale of the book by local esteemed photographer and author, Debbie Miller. The book, #IHAVENOWORDS, visualizes and encapsulates the pain and emotion from anti-black racism experienced by members of Ottawa's Black community. We are donating a portion of Afrotechture proceeds to the Equal Chance Foundation, whose goal is to promote the social, economic, cultural and political well-being of women and black communities across Canada.

Thank you for your continued support!

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