Masani Montague is a playwright, novelist, journalist and youth worker active in the Rastafari and Black community in Toronto for the past 39 years. She has written, directed and produced several plays, radio plays, documentaries, and the author of the novel, Dread Culture.  She co-coordinated the First International Rastafari Conference held in Toronto in 1982 and co-coordinated the Second International Rastafari Conference held in Jamaica in 1983.  She has a diploma in Journalism from Humber College, BA(Hons) in Creative Writing and MES in Environmental Studies from York University. She is currently completing her Masters degree in Education at York University. Owner of Masani Productions for the past 36 years Masani is the coordinator of the annual reggae music festival, Rastafest for the past 15 years and the artistic director of Upfront Theatre Foundation for the past 16 years where she uses the arts as tools of resiliency to engage and connect children and youth through planned programs.  Masani has received many awards for her work in the Rastafari community in Toronto including the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013 and the Order of York, Centre Award in 2015.