Our Team

Randell Adjei is an entrepreneur, speaker and spoken word practitioner who uses his gifts to Empower the message of Alchemy. In April of 2021 he was appointed as Ontario’s first Poet Laureate.

Randell, is the founder of one of Toronto's largest youth led initiatives; Reaching Intelligent Souls Everywhere (R.I.S.E Edutainment). In 2018, R.I.S.E received the Toronto Arts Foundation, Mayor’s Youth Arts Award.

Randell is the author of “I am Not my struggles,” a powerful Anthology released in 2018. Randell was also named CBC’s Metro Morning’s Torontonian of the Year in 2015 and NOW Magazines Local Hero in May 2017. In 2020 Randell opened up for President Barack Obama at the Economic Club of Canada.

Elle de Lyon is a Community Development Consultant, Writer and Multi-disciplinary artist with over 10 years experience organizing and directing music and media art projects, programs, events and festivals such as Nuit Blanche, TD Black Diamond Ball, and Black Physicians of Tomorrow - STEMWORKS Mentorship Program. She is also the co-founder of MADeWell Productions - where the mission is bringing visions to fruition - providing project and event management services.

Elle is also a certified Life Skills Coach and Yoga & Meditation Teacher who supports, educates, and empowers individuals to achieve life-balance. She believes that everyone has natural talents, aptitudes and power to overcome the inevitable physical, social, and emotional barriers that life brings.

Elle de Lyon is the Program Director at R.I.S.E Arts & Community Services, where she is responsible for designing, implementing, and evaluating new and existing programming to ensure alignment with organizational values and goals in collaboration with the Directors on the Board and the Executive.

She is passionate about building strong communities, developing artists and arts programs and applying what she has learned in her own career as an emerging musical and visual artist to help people reduce stress and manage their mental health and wellness through therapeutic yoga and arts-based exercises.

While she wears many hats, she most resonates with being a producer of pretty dope art that positively transforms people, places and perspectives.

Born and raised in Scarborough, Ontario, Jason has a BA in Criminology and Social Sciences and Humanities. Jason is RISE Edutainment's Operations Director, and VIBE Art's Mentorship & Projects Manager. He is an avid supporter of local Toronto artists. Jason has previously served on the Board of Directors for UNITY Charity, and has contributed to the City of Toronto’s Youth Equity Strategy, and helped to expand Nuit Blanche to Scarborough.

Alliston Davis is a Creator based in Toronto. He has put out multiple singles like “Brand New”, “Own Me (10.15)”, and “Low Down Low”, and has featured on other Toronto-based artists' tracks like Lexxicon's “Doing To Me” and Drty Shdw's "Never Let Me Down". 2020 was a busy year for Alliston. He dropped two EPs, “Problematic” in late summer and “Night Pack” in October. With these two collections, he is making a name for himself in the Canadian music industry.

In 2022, he has been working on completing his first full-length album. In addition to his own body of work, he’s working on other artists' projects and features that will be released soon. In the meantime, Alliston works passionately as an Event Manager for R.I.S.E Edutainment and AFROWAVETO. Using his unique skills and instinctive creative intuition, he strives to provide a space and platform for other unique artists to showcase their work.

As a seasoned Project Manager, Child and Youth Worker and Art Enthusiast, Anastasia brings over a decade of experience developing programs, events, and experiences for youth and organizations like Nuit Blanche, City of Toronto, ArtworxTO, Sandbox Studios and countless others.

In 2019, Anastasia co-founded MAdeWELL Productions - a project and event management business that is passionate about working within the art, culture and wellness industries to bring clients visions to fruition. She is also passionate about creating events and programs that address mental health and use art as a tool for social change.

Anastasia brings all of the experience from her cross section of corporate and community learnings to her role as Program Manager at RISE Edutainment. Developing learning materials and tools that maintain the integrity of creativity while commercializing its value. Once crowned Miss Black Beauty Canada, Anastasia spends the time she's not developing programming - modeling and acting in Toronto and abroad.

Lovey is an energetic, inspiring, and detailed-oriented Program & Communication Manager. She is enthusiastic about bringing projects from a vision on paper to a thoughtful and impactful experience in real life. Lovey holds an honours bachelor's degree in Public Relations Management and a certified distinction in leadership awarded by Centennial College.

As a creative being, her art comes to life through her project management and communications work. Lovey is a natural leader passionate about community development, diversity, equity and inclusion. Lovey is skilled in risk management and safety, bringing this background to all her projects to minimize potential risks and seamlessly meet deliverables and success metrics.

Lovey has experience working with organizations like Centennial College, RISE Edutainment, LeaderShape Institute, the City of Toronto, the City of Pickering, Athlete Tech Group and more. As a highly-skilled, adaptable and creative individual, Lovey stays ready to take on new initiatives, build up communities and bring creative visions to life.

Vanessa Peters is a professional project manager and editor. She holds a Bachelors degree in Psychology and Political Science and a Masters degree in Business Administration with honors. Coupled with over a decade of experience developing full-cycle projects, programs and campaigns, she is passionate about curating experiences, advancing services and scaling businesses with an innovative influence and a savvy touch.

This passion is discernible in her contributions as a project manager at R.I.S.E. Edutainment as she masterfully balances organizational development, artist management, creative direction, and promotional planning.

In 2019, Vanessa became a certified yoga teacher. In doing so, she has promoted and instructed over 100 increasingly multi-ethnic yoga classes where fellow visible minorities feel welcomed, seen and encouraged in a communal practice often marked with a lack of diversity.

Together with her corporate pursuits, Vanessa is an established writer and photographer. She has had the pleasure of working with organizations such as Style Fashion Week, Noiree Magazine, ParkShow, Galore Magazine, Bluebella Boutique, The Arsenic Agency, Vulkan Magazine and Maison Close, among many others. Her ability to creatively articulate content into aesthetic is a lifelong journey.