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  "description": "My identity wasn’t something to hide. It was the reason my work mattered. As Derek Walcott wrote: “The sea is history.” And for those of us in the diaspora, we carry that history with us — in how we think, in how we create, in how we build.",
  "path": "/2026/the-diaspora-advantage-turning-identity-into-innovation/",
  "publishedAt": "2026-04-01T13:47:48.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.iqra.ca",
  "tags": [
    "https://ugdiasporacentre.uog.edu.gy/diaspora-conference-2026/",
    "Grazing Platters in the 6ix",
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  "textContent": "_By Sarah Juman-Yassin_\n\n _(Speech delivered at a conference, hosted by the International Centre for Migration and Diaspora Studies (MIDIAS), held from March 30 – April 1, 2026 at the University of Guyana, Turkeyen Campus, under the theme “Diaspora Matters: Belonging, Technology and Diaspora in the 21st Century”_ https://ugdiasporacentre.uog.edu.gy/diaspora-conference-2026/__)__\n\nThere’s a saying in Guyanese culture: _“One One dutty build dam”_\n\nIt means that even the smallest beginnings—with consistency, resilience, and vision— can become something extraordinary.\n\nAnd that’s the story of the diaspora.\n\nI come from a long line of builders.\n\nEntrepreneurs before entrepreneurship had a name. Visionaries before there was visibility.\n\nRooted in Guyana, carried across borders, and lived out in the diaspora.\n\nI left Guyana when I was two years old — so I don’t remember the leaving.\n\nBut I inherited something far more powerful than memory.\n\nI inherited mindset.\n\nA way of seeing opportunity. A way of creating something from nothing. A way of building—no matter the circumstance.\n\nAnd that’s why I see diaspora differently.\n\nBecause diaspora is often defined by movement — migration, displacement, relocation.\n\nBut I believe diaspora is not just about where you come from.\n\nIt’s about what you **_see_** because of where you’ve been.\n\nMy name is Sarah Juman-Yassin, and today I want to talk about what I call: _The Diaspora Advantage._\n\n### **THE IN-BETWEEN EXPERIENCE**\n\nI was raised in Toronto—in a home filled with Guyanese culture:\n\nThe smell of spices in the kitchen… the sound of laughter that filled every room… plates of pholourie passed around like _love made visible._\n\nAnd then I would step outside into a world that didn’t always reflect that back to me.\n\nAnd like many in the diaspora, I grew up navigating two realities:\n\nWho I was at home… and who the world expected me to be.\n\nFor a long time, I thought that tension meant _I didn’t_ fully belong anywhere.\n\nBut what I’ve come to understand is this:\n\n_That “in-between” space is not a weakness. It is a vantage point._\n\nBecause when you don’t fully belong to one system, you begin to see where it’s broken.\n\nYou notice what’s missing. You **feel** what’s overlooked.\n\n_And that…is where innovation begins._\n\n### **LEGACY MEETS LENS**\n\nAs Marcus Garvey once said: “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.”\n\nI was raised with roots.\n\nBoth of my grandfathers were entrepreneurs. My paternal grandmother was an entrepreneur. My father is an entrepreneur. My brothers are entrepreneurs.\n\nI didn’t learn entrepreneurship from a book.\n\nI learned it by watching people build— out of necessity… out of faith… out of vision.\n\nBecause in Caribbean families, entrepreneurship isn’t just about business.\n\nIt’s about survival. It’s about dignity. It’s about saying: “ _We may not have access—but we will create opportunity_.”\n\nSo while the world taught me how to navigate systems…\n\nMy family taught me something even more powerful:\n\n_You don’t always have to fit into systems. You can build your own._\n\n### **SEEING WHAT OTHERS MISS**\n\nThe first time I did that was in university.\n\nAs a Muslim woman, I couldn’t find modest fashion that felt like me.\n\nEverything felt like a compromise.\n\nSo I built my own clothing line.\n\nAnd that was my first lesson in diaspora innovation:\n\n_When you don’t see yourself reflected—you’re not the problem. The gap is._\n\nAnd diaspora individuals—because of how we move through the world—we are trained to see those gaps.\n\n### **THE DETOUR**\n\nBut like many children of immigrants, I still followed what I thought was the “right” path.\n\nI went into corporate finance.\n\nAnd I succeeded.\n\nOn paper, everything looked right.\n\nBut inside…I felt disconnected.\n\nBecause I wasn’t building.\n\nI was living within someone else’s definition of success.\n\nAnd a quiet voice kept coming back:\n\n_You are more than this._\n\n### **THE TURNING POINT**\n\nIn 2019, my mom sent me a photo of a charcuterie board.\n\nAnd something about it sparked.\n\nBecause for me, food has always been deeper than food.\n\nIn Guyanese culture— food is connection. Food is care. Food is how we say, _“You belong here.”_\n\nBut I also remembered all the spaces where I didn’t feel that.\n\nEvents where I couldn’t eat anything. No halal options. No consideration.\n\nJust standing there… present… but not included.\n\nAnd in that moment, everything aligned.\n\n### **BUILDING WITH PURPOSE**\n\nSo I built Grazing Platters in the 6ix**.**\n\nNot just as a business— but as a response.\n\nA response to exclusion. A response to invisibility. A response to that feeling of not belonging.\n\nI created experiences that were inclusive, intentional, and beautiful—\n\nfor people who eat halal, vegan, gluten-free— and for anyone who has ever felt….overlooked.\n\nBecause belonging **should never** be an afterthought.\n\n### **OWNING THE ADVANTAGE**\n\nBut even then, I hesitated to be visible.\n\nBecause I didn’t see anyone in my industry who looked like me.\n\nAnd for a moment, I thought that meant I needed to shrink.\n\nUntil I realized:_My identity wasn’t something to hide. It was the reason my work mattered._\n\nAs Derek Walcott wrote: “The sea is history.”\n\nAnd for those of us in the diaspora, we carry that history with us — in how we think, in how we create, in how we build.\n\n### **THE DIASPORA ADVANTAGE**\n\nSo when I talk about the diaspora advantage, this is what I mean:\n\nIt’s the ability to move between worlds— and translate them.\n\nTo see what’s missing— and create it.\n\nTo take lived experience and turn it into innovation.\n\nDiaspora is not fragmentation.\n\n_It is expansion. It is perspective. It is power._\n\n### **RESPONSIBILITY & IMPACT**\n\nBecause when you come from communities like ours—you’re not just building for yourself.\n\nYou’re building for the people who came before you… and for the ones who are watching you.\n\nIt is said, “We all carry our ancestors within us.”\n\nSo when we build—we are building with them.\n\nAnd being here… speaking at the University of Guyana…this feels full circle.\n\nBecause while I left Guyana at two years old—Guyana never left me.\n\nIt lived in how I was raised… in how I think… in how I build.\n\nAnd today, as Guyana continues to grow and evolve on the global stage… _there is an incredible opportunity:_\n\nNot just to develop industries— but to shape identity, culture, and innovation in a way that is uniquely ours.\n\nBecause the diaspora is not separate from Guyana.\n\nWe are an extension of it.\n\nAnd what we’ve learned… what we’ve built… what we’ve experienced…\n\nwe bring that back.\n\n### **CLOSING**\n\nSo if you’ve ever felt like you don’t fully belong…\n\nIf you’ve ever felt like you’re navigating multiple worlds…\n\nIf you’ve ever questioned where you fit…\n\nMaybe the question was never:\n\n_“Where do I belong?”_\n\nMaybe the question is:_“What am I here to build?”_\n\nBecause the truth is—we don’t find belonging.\n\n_We create it._\n\nWe build it. We design it. We make space for it— for ourselves, and for everyone coming after us.\n\nSo to everyone here…especially those who have ever felt _in-between -_ don't shrink to fit systems that were never designed for you.\n\nBuild systems that reflect who you are.\n\nBecause your identity is not a limitation.\n\nIt is your advantage. It is your blueprint. It is your power.\n\nAnd when you fully step into that — you don’t just change your life.\n\nYou change what’s possible for others.\n\nWe were never meant to fit in.\n\nWe were born to build.\n\n_(Sarah Juman-Yassin is a Corporate Finance Leader | Founder of @_ grazingplattersinthe6ix_| TV Personality & Speaker | Seen on Breakfast TV, CTV Your Morning, The Social, CityLine, The Good Stuff | Championing Inclusive Food Artistry)._",
  "title": "The Diaspora Advantage: Turning Identity into Innovation",
  "updatedAt": "2026-04-01T13:47:49.632Z"
}