@Macaulay Community Spotlight on Shelley V. Worrell, Founder + CEO of CaribBeing

Macaulay Honors College is delighted to spotlight the Caribbean diaspora in Brooklyn, New York with Shelley V. Worrell, Founder + CEO of CaribBeing a thriving cultural organization that stands at the crossroads of film + art + culture. We will be discussing her work in the community and what it means to be a cultural entrepreneur. Joining her will be Macaulay Honors College alumna, Ana Luiza Teodoro ’18, who earned her degree in Latin American & Caribbean Studies with a focus on race and identity. There will be a special steel pan performance by Kareem Thompson Music.

Shelly V. Worrell
Founder + CEO of caribBeing

A cultural entrepreneur born in NYC and raised between Brooklyn & the Caribbean, Worrell created CaribBeing, spearheaded the designation and development of Little Caribbean, and is the head of Caribbean Partnerships for the US Department of Commerce.

Worrell has produced 400+ immersive experiences in partnership with top corporations and cultural institutions including James Beard Foundation, Google Arts & Culture, Studio Museum in Harlem, VoX Media and others. Her multi-platform & cross-cultural activations have been featured by Black Enterprise, NBC, and Hyperallergic; and she has been personally profiled in The New York Times and Good Morning America.

Worrell holds a BA in Cultural Studies from CUNY, Brooklyn College and a MA in Media Studies from the New School.

She lives in Brooklyn and enjoys traveling and gardening in her spare time.

Ana Luiza Teodoro ’18
Moderator

Ana Luiza Teodoro is an alumna of Macaulay Honors College, Brooklyn Campus, class of 2018 and MA graduate of NYU’s Latin American and Caribbean Studies Program of 2020. Throughout her academic career she focused on race and identity, particularly focused on the global south with special attention paid to Brazil and Caribbean nations. She advocates for the importance and empowerment of cultural and communal identity issues as driving factors for change. Currently she is proud to assist the international community working as an International Recruitment Officer at St. Francis College in Brooklyn Heights, New York.

In her spare time she finds herself painting and buying more books than she has time to read.

Kareem Thompson
Artist/Educator/Producer

Kareem Thompson, a professional steel pannist, born and raised in Brooklyn, NY by his Trinidadian grandparents. While in elementary school Kareem started playing the steel pan, an instrument his grandfather played while in Trinidad in the early 1960’s.

Kareem attended Florida Memorial University after graduating from Brooklyn High School of the Arts. After attending Florida Memorial University for 3 years, he decided to transfer and attend the world renown Berklee College of Music in Boston MA. Kareem graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2013.

Kareem has toured the United States and the Caribbean and has recorded an album entitled “Pan Roots Culture” in which he released in 2017 and can be found on all music streaming platforms. Currently Kareem is teaching at Berklee College of Music and continuing to perform and tour the world.