Shelley Worrell is the founder and CEO of ‘I AM CARIBBEING,’ a company that literally defined and spearheaded the development of Little Caribbean in Flatbush, Brooklyn.
The term Caribbeing, said Worrell, was constructed from ‘Caribbean’ and ‘being’ which means the nature or essence of a person. It means a 21st century person born in and/or of descent from the Caribbean, an adventure-seeker with a strong desire to travel and explore the Caribbean, and an authentic Caribbean brand.
“Before even realizing it I was really immersed in my culture and heritage, and it didn’t occur to me where I was growing up until we moved to South Jersey where there wasn’t any Caribbean culture,” said Worrell. “That’s when I suddenly realized that when I lived there I felt this tremendous void. Because I didn’t feel represented there. No one understood what it meant to be of Caribbean descent. They thought that I was trying to deny my Blackness.
Since 2018, Worrell has served as the head of Community Partnerships at the U.S. Department of Commerce and formerly held leadership roles in Strategic Partnerships and Global Business Development at Google and A+E Television Networks. However, after the devastating earthquake that hit Haiti that same year, Worrell screened the documentary about relief efforts on the island. The doc was a huge success and the programming took off from there, said Worrell. “We added art, music, performance, food, and from there the organization just grew into what it is today,” said Worrell.