Meet Jiya Pinder

We recently connected with Jiya Pinder and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Jiya, really happy you were able to join us today and we’re looking forward to sharing your story and insights with our readers. Let’s start with the heart of it all – purpose. How did you find your purpose?

I found purpose in my love for Black photography, spending hours on Tumblr, drawn to old archival images. That curiosity eventually turned inward, leading me to a photo album tucked in the back of my family’s closet. My mom would point out names, places, and stories behind every face. Some I knew, many I didn’t, but all of them felt like part of me. I didn’t have the language for it then, but looking back, that was the start of my purpose.

Today, I am the founder of We The Diaspora, a Black documentary organization dedicated to honoring the stories, legacies, and creativity of the African diaspora. We help people archive family memories, design storytelling campaigns, and build bridges between past and present through workshops, creative collaborations, and community-centered memory work.

Curating for We The Diaspora is where I feel most alive. I love dreaming up new campaigns and collaborations, like our recent partnership with Good Mirrors, where we invited our community to honor the women in their lives through affirmations and storytelling. I’ve always believed there’s power in remembering. In a world that’s constantly trying to make us forget our culture, our ancestors, even our own values, choosing to remember is an act of resistance. As Maya Angelou said, “You can’t really know where you are going until you know where you have been.” That quote guides everything I do.

Especially now, in a time when Black libraries, museums, and other archival institutions are being defunded, memory institutions are under threat, I feel even more committed. They try to erase our history to erase our rights. But we’re still here. Our families, our cultures, our stories, all still here. That gives me purpose and keeps me going.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment, and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Looking back, the three qualities that have had the most impact on my journey are patience, passion, and perseverance.

Patience taught me that meaningful things take time. The vision doesn’t always come together overnight, and that’s okay. I had to learn to give myself grace in the slow seasons, to trust that the seeds I was planting would bloom in their own time.

Passion is the heartbeat of everything I do. You have to find something that lights you up, something you care about so deeply that you’re willing to show up for it even when no one’s watching. That spark will carry you through the hard days and keep you connected to your “why.”

And perseverance? That’s the muscle you build when you keep going even when it’s difficult. When the path isn’t clear, when the funding isn’t there, when the doubt creeps in, you keep going. You find a way.

My biggest advice for anyone early in their journey is this: stop worrying about what other people think. Don’t let the noise of other people’s opinions drown out your inner voice. Find what brings you joy and lean into it fully. Let your values guide you and don’t get swayed by trends or outside pressure. The more you stay rooted in your truth, the more aligned your path will become.

Okay, so before we go we always love to ask if you are looking for folks to partner or collaborate with?

Yes, We The Diaspora is always open to collaboration, and we’re especially excited to build with folks who share our values around cultural preservation and storytelling through a Black diasporic lens.

Whether you’re interested in co-curating a campaign, hosting a memory workshop, creating culturally rooted content, or developing digital or physical activations, we’re open to creative, community-centered ideas that align with our mission. We’re looking to partner with artists, archivists, community organizers, historians, educators, institutions, and brands that are committed to celebrating and safeguarding Black stories and Black storytelling through any form of art.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.wethediaspora.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wethediaspora/