LOUIS BORIA/BROOKLYN BOY KNITS
Puerto Rican knitwear designer, philanthropist and motivational speaker Louis Boria has been in the fiber-arts industry for more than ten years. Since gaining fame on social media, Louis has been at the forefront of breaking down gender norms, putting out the message that art has no gender. His commitment to the community continues by bringing fiber artists together with projects including Hat Not Hate and School of Yarn and working with cancer patients by teaching them how to knit as a form of therapy. Louis’s goal for the council is to bring much-needed recognition to both POC and LGBQT fiber artists and to highlight their commitment and works in our fast-growing industry.
ANA CAMPOS
Ana Campos was born in São Paulo, Brazil, and now makes her home in Salem, Massachusetts. She is passionate about all things handmade and learned to knit and crochet as a child. Ana brings more than 20 years of knitting experience to her yarn shop, Circle of Stitches. She also has a line of hand-dyed yarns, Toil & Trouble, and teaches workshops throughout New England. Her focus is on the technical aspects of knitting, and she particularly enjoys teaching Portuguese knitting in honor of her Portuguese ancestors. Ana is fiercely committed to intersectionality and diversity, which she seeks to promote within her own business. She is excited to participate in the Diversity Advisory Council and hopes to encourage proactive, rather than reactive, change in the fiber industry.
FELICITY (FELIX) FORD
Felicity (Felix) Ford is an artist who believes that creativity and social change go hand in hand. She’s been working with knitting and sound (as KNITSONIK) since 2005 when she joined a knitting circle in Oxford, England, while studying for her MA and PhD in sound art. Her sound works include a podcast series about disability; a PhD exploring the underappreciated sounds of domestic space; and commissions for TATE Modern, The Dickens Museum and The Wellcome Library. Felix now writes knitting books celebrating the everyday in stranded colorwork, and teaches workshops that empower her fellow knitters around creative self-expression. She has been managing psoriatic arthritis, depression and anxiety for more than twenty years. Through joining this council she aims to highlight the needs and perspectives of disabled people in the fiber industry. As well as advocating from her own experiences, she looks forward to better understanding how disabilities intersect with other marginalized identities.
LORNA HAMILTON-BROWN
Lorna Hamilton-Brown is a black British knitwear designer and artist. She has a Master’s degree in Knitted Textiles from the Royal College of Art, London, and is a qualified University lecturer. Lorna learned to knit and crochet from her Jamaican mother and started out designing and selling items at school. Her knitwear has appeared on BBC TV and been sold in Harrods of Knightsbridge, London. As an artist, Lorna creates artworks that challenges racial stereotypes. She’s currently building on research from her Master’s dissertation, which debunked the myth that “Black People Don’t Knit,” as well as revealing the bias shown in the way knitting histories have been presented.
CECILIA NELSON-HURT
As a Diversity & Inclusion practitioner, Cecilia Nelson-Hurt has more than 15 years of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion experience. Currently, Cecilia serves as the Assistant Vice President of Diversity & Inclusion at L’Oréal USA, where she is responsible for shaping diversity efforts through innovative initiatives that underscore the company’s commitment to creating an equal opportunity workplace. Cecilia is also responsible for the curriculum development and facilitation of all L’Oréal USA Diversity & Inclusion trainings, having trained more than 15,000 employees to date. Cecilia was introduced to the fiber arts by her maternal grandmother, who taught her how to crochet when she was very young. Cecilia later taught herself to knit and has been an avid knitter for more than 20 years. Combining her love for knitting and travel, Cecilia travels the world and visits yarn shops wherever she goes. To date, she and her “Yarn Husband” Jerome have visited more than 100 shops in the United States and abroad.
ANGELA TONG
Angela Tong is a Chinese American Fiber Arts Designer living in New Jersey with her husband and two daughters. She studied Industrial Design and Jewelry & Metalsmithing at Massachusetts College of Art and graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York with a degree in Jewelry Design. She has been designing knitting, crochet and weaving patterns for numerous magazines, books and yarn companies. She also teaches knitting and weaving classes online for www.mybluprint.com and at yarn stores and fiber retreats. In 2019, she became a brand ambassador for Mirrix Looms. Currently she is working on her first weaving book. Angela believes that she can help bring diversity to the industry by teaching and attending events, showing students and event goers that people who look like her knit, crochet and weave. Diversity and inclusion are a part of her core beliefs and she is raising her daughters with the same beliefs.
