In elementary school, Alana was always kicked out of class for telling jokes and making people laugh. By the time she got to highschool, her teachers no longer put up with it. At 19, she completed the 11th and 12th grade through correspondence with the Independent Learning Centre and was elected validictorian at her high school graduation. Still working from an innate passion to tell stories everyone would be impacted by, Alana graduated from the broadcast stream of Humber College’s Journalism program. In 2006 and 2007, Alana put her journalistic skills to test as a reporter for National Public Radio’s Next Generation Radio project at the annual National Association of Black Journalists convention, completing a one-on-one interview with the former Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin on the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina and radio spots on various performances and addresses, including ones made by former Senator and now President, Barack Obama and former Senator, now Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton.

Completing highschool through correspondence opened up the time for Alana to also participate in and eventually lead various youth-led initiatives across many communities in Toronto. She started out as a youth peer facilitator at 17 with the Violence Intervention Project with East Metro Youth Services and Leave Out ViolencE’s youth programs. They helped her develop the confidence and self-esteem needed to become a peer facilitator and coordinator of METRAC’s Respect In Action (ReAct) program where she trained her peers to deliver interactive workshops, trainings, and speaking engagements on violence against women and youth.

However, her time at For Youth Initiative has definitely got to be the most life changing and emotionally impactful experience of her life. The by youth, for youth organization provided a space for Alana to feel like she truly belonged not simply because the space was located in the cultural centre of Little Jamaica, but also because it was one of the only spaces Alana could relate to other youth with similar life experiences and learn and grow with them at the same time. It was one of the first times she ever felt like she belonged, connected to people that were as equally connected to her. During her time as a volunteer and youth program worker, Alana also co-produced and co-directed a short documentary called The Forgotten City… in the city that explores the lack of youth services in the Keele & Eglinton community and the bad things that can happen with there’s no access to them.

Currently, Alana coordinates the Emerge program, a young leaders training program through Schools Without Borders. Last year, as a participant in the program’s international exchange component, Alana traveled to Kenya and witnessed the vital and inspirational work of young leaders there. Her trip helped her realize how invaluable and precious traditional knowledge is and how relevant it is to her conceptions of self-worth. With her renewed confidence and love for self, Alana wants to ensure that other young people, who rarely receive opportunities to travel outside of their communities, yet to another continent, experience similar, powerful transformations that contribute to the betterment of themselves and their communities.