Founded in Montreal in 2015, Sayaspora has spent the past decade creating spaces where young women from the African diaspora can tell their own stories, build skills, and find community.
What began as a small online blog has grown into a global media platform and community organization, now celebrating its 10th anniversary.
“It was founded because of a lack of representation in media platforms,” explained executive director Djamilla Toure. “The fact that we don’t have that much spaces where our stories are truly represented in a good way, in the right way, our voices weren’t back in the day centered.”
The organization began as a blog. “Simply a platform online where women from the African diaspora could share their own stories and be their own change makers,” Toure said.
Members of the Sayaspora team, including Djamilla Toure, executive director (second from right), pose inside the organization’s space in Montreal on Dec. 18, 2025. (Adriana Gentile, CityNews)
Bridging online storytelling, offline connection
Over the years, Sayaspora expanded beyond digital publishing to address the absence of representation in physical spaces as well. Today, the organization works both online and offline, combining media production with in-person programming.
Online, Sayaspora produces social media awareness campaigns, a magazine, and digital content. Offline, it organizes panels and workshops to support participants as they navigate their professional and personal lives in Canada.
Copies of Sayaspora’s magazine and books are seen on a shelf inside the organization’s space in Montreal on Dec. 18, 2025. (Adriana Gentile, CityNews)
Reaching a global community
What started in Montreal now reaches far beyond it. Sayaspora has grown into an online network of more than 19,000 people, with an audience that is predominantly women aged 18 to 34.
“We target the youth specifically,” Toure said.
The platform is followed across every continent, with strong communities in cities like Montreal, Paris, and Bamako, Mali.
A framed poster marking 10 years of Sayaspora is seen inside the organization’s space in Montreal on Dec. 18, 2025. (Adriana Gentile, CityNews)
Creating tools and opportunities
Among Sayaspora’s initiatives is Sayalab, a project designed to train the next generation of content creators in Montreal and Ottawa. For Toure, seeing the impact of these programs is one of the most rewarding aspects of the work.
“To see the direct and clear impact that a specific program has on their lives, better equip them to share their own stories and narratives the right way, it feels amazing,” she said.
Celebrating a decade together
Sayaspora marked its anniversary with a community celebration on Nov. 29, bringing together participants, partners, families, and funders. The event reflected the organization’s journey and growth.
“We actually hosted it in a huge loft where all the rooms were a representation of initiatives of Sayaspora. We had one room for our magazine, one room for our project. We had small panels as well,” said Toure.
A “10 Years of Sayaspora” poster is displayed at the organization’s anniversary event in Montreal. (Courtesy: Facebook/Sayaspora)
While Sayaspora often addresses serious topics such as health and security, the anniversary was also a moment to celebrate.
“It was a beautiful moment to celebrate, to dance, to eat, to have fun.”
A new space and the road ahead
This year also marked the opening of Sayaspora’s community space in Montreal, designed to bring people together and serve the broader community.
“To have a space where we can gather as a community, to have a space that we can give to our community as well because people can rent the space and host events here as well,” Toure explained.
The Sayaspora space in Montreal is shown on Dec. 18, 2025. (Adriana Gentile, CityNews)
Looking forward, Sayaspora plans to continue expanding its reach across Canada.
“We are also not just evolving and developing programs here in Montreal, we’re also doing it in Ontario and we are going to cover other provinces as well.”
A message of encouragement
For Toure, leading Sayaspora is deeply meaningful. “It truly feels like I am living a purposeful life, I would say.”
Her message to others reflects the organization’s founding spirit: “When you see that there is something that is lacking, that there is something that is not here and that you feel it in your core, maybe it’s because you’re the one who’s supposed to create it.”
As Sayaspora enters its next decade, it continues to grow from Montreal outward, building community, amplifying voices, and reshaping representation — one story at a time.
