February 4, 2026
12:00 - 1:30 PM ET
Description
Black Futures are not singular, fixed, or predetermined. They are plural, emergent, and deeply shaped by history, culture, place, and imagination. Reimagining Black Futures is part of Tamarack Institute’s Black Futures Month programming.
This webinar invites participants into a generative conversation about how Black communities across Canada are already imagining, prototyping, and living into future possibilities, and how Afrofuturism can serve as both a method and a mindset for systems change that resists colonial rigidity and centres Black joy, creativity, and complexity.
Together, we will explore how to move beyond deficit-based narratives and instead cultivate strengths-based approaches that celebrate Blackness in both ordinary and extraordinary settings. Panellists will reflect on the importance of allowing futures to emerge without prescribing them, while remaining grounded in care, belonging, and relational accountability.
The first hour will feature a moderated panel conversation, followed by 30 minutes of generative dialogue with participants.
Participants Will Explore
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What it means to speak about Black Futures in the plural, and why this matters for equity and systems change
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How Afrofuturism can support decolonial, emancipatory approaches to imagining the future.
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Ways to avoid reproducing harm or colonization when working with future-oriented narratives.
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How place-based futures work can strengthen belonging, agency, and collective imagination.
Speakers
Sa’adatu Usman. CEO, Global Citizen Incorporated
Sa’adatu is a visionary global citizen and dynamic community organizer dedicated to advancing equality and social justice. As the founder and CEO of Global Citizen Incorporated, she spearheads transformative initiatives that foster holistic settlement, champion anti-racism, combat food insecurity, and empower newcomers and marginalized communities. Through impactful partnerships and advocacy, Sa’adatu is shaping a future where Black communities are not only resilient and empowered but also celebrated for their unique strengths and lasting contributions—she believes in the limitless potential of every individual, and she is determined to help build a world where equity and opportunity are realities for all.
Julius Lindsay. Co-Lead, The Prismatic Project
Julius Lindsay is a futurist and leader in the environmental field in Canada with almost twenty years of experience in the areas of climate change, sustainability, and energy. He has led climate action and community engagement initiatives in cities and NGOs across the place now known as Canada. Julius is the co-lead for the Prismatic Project, which seeks to centre Indigenous and Black perspectives through the lens of Indigenous futurist and Afrofuturist art, community engagement and futures games to shift the conversation about and composition of climate action in Canada.
Daren Okafo. Consulting Director of Collective Leadership, Tamarack Institute
Daren Okafo is a veteran community adult educator and collective leadership practitioner with over 30 years of experience in community development and engagement. Grounded in his lived experience as a Black Nova Scotian, Daren centres dialogue, equity, participation, and futures-thinking in his work.
For 16 years, Daren honed his popular education and facilitation practice at the Coady International Institute, drawing from the Antigonish Movement. He founded and led Coady’s Innovations and Technology work and pioneered community-led approaches to technology education and co-design.
More recently, Daren has evolved his critical pedagogy into a community-centric collective leadership practice focused on equitable futures, power, race, and coloniality. He has held senior roles across the nonprofit sector and currently champions collective leadership innovation as a senior consultant in Nova Scotia.
Rochelle Ignacio. Director, Equity, Anti-Racism and Reconciliation, Tamarack Institute
Rochelle Ignacio (she/her) is an equity strategist, facilitator, public speaker, and community builder who guides organizations and individuals through meaningful equity and anti-racism journeys. Grounded in an intentional, relational, and care-based framework, Rochelle fosters environments where belonging, reconciliation, and transformative change can take root.
Since 2021, Rochelle has led Tamarack Institute’s inaugural Equity, Anti-Racism and Reconciliation team and spearheaded Seeds of Transformation — a loving framework for equity, belonging, and reconciliation. Beyond consulting, she advances Black mobility and belonging through economic development, arts and culture production, and board leadership in Alberta.
