Kacy Garvey

Kacy Garvey, Poet

Kacy Garvey is a Jamaican poet, performer, and literary arts advocate. She is the Founder and Managing Director of JAIKU, a non-profit organization dedicated to professionalizing poetry and empowering Caribbean poets through training, advocacy, and creative enterprise.

Since debuting on Jamaica’s spoken word scene in 2008, Kacy has become known for her spiritually grounded performances and her albums Undone (2014) and Water Jar (2018)—the first Christian poetry albums produced in Jamaica. Her poems appear in The Caribbean Writer, BIM: Arts for the 21st Century, and the National Library of Jamaica’s New Voices anthology selected by Poet Laureate Lorna Goodison.

She is the 2017 winner of The Caribbean Writer’s Cecile de Jongh Literary Prize, a 2020 Edward Baugh Poetry Prize finalist, and was named Best International Artist at the 2025 American National Spoken Word Awards.

Through JAIKU, Kacy has led major literary initiatives, including leading a delegation of JAIKU poets to CARIFESTA XV, co-producing the second staging of the St. Mary Literary Festival in Jamaica, and preparing to host Kingston Poetry Week in March 2026. An advocate for poets’ rights and professional development, Kacy serves on the Board of the Jamaican Copyright Licensing Agency, leads the Jamaican Chapter of the Poetry Business Network, and spearheaded the Caribbean Chapter of the International Authors Forum. Her recent initiatives include UNESCO-supported webinars and bilingual workshops across the Caribbean and Latin America exploring literature, education, and digital futures in poetry.

JaCoy “Tooma” Brathwaite

JaCoy “Tooma” Brathwaite, Musician

JaCoy Brathwaite (also known as KillaTooma) is a music artist, producer, and songwriter from the Virgin Islands who is celebrated for his lyrical depth, creative vision, and cultural impact. Tooma has built a name as one of the region’s most influential musical voices, blending hip-hop, Caribbean rhythm, and conscious storytelling to reflect both his roots and evolution. He is best known for his critically acclaimed albums The Third Pillar (2017), Vision Builds Kingdoms (2021), and Voice of the Lamb (2025), the latter debuting by sweeping the Top 11 spots on the BVI Apple Music Top 100 chart. Beyond his music, JaCoy earned a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in Music Business, combining his artistic talent with a strong business acumen to navigate the modern music industry with purpose and independence. This solidified his position as a co-founder of Wolf Pack Entertainment, a company dedicated to empowering artists through ownership and creative freedom. His ultimate goal is to use his art to inspire transformation, both within his community and across the wider world, by merging sound, spirituality, and storytelling into a movement of purpose.

Johanna Gibson

  • Johanna Gibson, Poet

    Johanna Gibson is a writer from the Virgin Islands (U.K.). She received her bachelor’s in English from the University of Southampton. She has been published in Moko Magazine, Small Axe, Pree Lit and Persimmon Review. She was shortlisted for the Bocas Emerging Writer’s Fellowship (2022) and for the Bridport Prize (2023). She is an alumnus of the Obsidian Foundation Retreat 2023 and the Southbank New Poets Collective 2023/24. In July of 2025, she debuted poetry alongside the London Philharmonic Orchestra.  

 

Beverly Vanterpool

  • Beverly Vanterpool, Author

    Beverly Vanterpool is an author, businessperson and founder of Career Sistas, a platform dedicated to empowering women – especially those from who have ever felt like outsiders in traditional career spaces.

    With over two decades of experience in roles in large multinational companies, Beverly brings a wealth of understanding from her personal career journey along with insights garnered from others through creating and leading groups within her former industry focused on diverse women.

    Beverly holds an honours bachelor’s degree in economics/finance and management from Barry University in Miami, Florida, a UK accountancy qualification (ACCA), and an MBA from the University of Cambridge.

    Originally from the British Virgin Islands, Beverly has successfully navigated the complexities of relocating as an immigrant, working in the UK over the last twenty years and professionally is known as a changemaker.

    As the founder of Career Sistas, she empowers women through storytelling on her podcast, Stories by Career Sistas and plans a wider range of services targeted at supporting women in their careers.