founders
meet the
LESEAN HARRIS
CO-FOUNDER/PROGRAM LEAD ARTS + CULTURE
As one of the founders of Base VI, I’m dedicated to empowering aspiring creatives, film makers, and visual artists by providing access to the tools, mentorship, and infrastructure that are often inaccessible at the earliest—and most critical—stages of creative development. I am a working commercial and film director with years of experience navigating the professional film and media industry.
Throughout my career, I have collaborated with agencies, production companies, and global brands, and have witnessed firsthand how opportunity in this field is often dictated not by talent alone, but by access— access to equipment, guidance, networks, and safe spaces to experiment and fail. When I entered the industry, these resources were limited, fragmented, or absent, particularly for individuals from underrepresented or under-resourced communities. Progress required improvisation, unpaid labour, and navigating opaque systems without mentorship or institutional support.
Base VI was conceived as a direct response to those early barriers. Its mission is to lower the threshold of entry into arts, business, and enterprise by offering aspiring creators and entrepreneurs practical support structures that mirror professional environments. This includes access to equipment and workspaces, educational programming rooted in real-world industry practices, mentorship from active professionals, and opportunities to develop portfolio-ready work without financial or social gatekeeping.
WENDY HARRIS
CO-FOUNDER/PROGRAM LEAD MENTAL HEALTH/WELLNESS
As one of the co-founders, I am committed to strengthening the sustainability and success of Black creatives, entrepreneurs, and small business owners by addressing a critical and often under-resourced component of entrepreneurship: mental wellness.
BASE VI intends to deliver accessible mental health programming tailored to the lived experiences of Black creatives and entrepreneurs. Our services will include individual and group counselling support, wellness workshops, peer-support spaces, and community referrals, all grounded in trauma-informed and anti-oppressive practice.
As the Program Lead, my approach will be designed to reduce burnout, strengthen resilience, and support participants in sustaining their creative and entrepreneurial pursuits.
STACEY HARRIS
CO-FOUNDER/PROGRAM LEAD ENTREPRENEUR DEVELOPMENT
As a Co-founder of BASE VI, I am excited to continue sharing my expertise in business with my community. During my 10+ years of entrepreneurship and owner of brick and mortar stores in downtown Toronto, I have experienced so much from establishing a corporation, lease agreements and contracts, investor deals, to exhibiting at national and international trade shows, wholesaling to big box retailers, running in-house community programs to support a group of 10 female entrepreneurs, to hosting store events and collaborating with neighbouring businesses to coordinate community events like “brunch + shop” or holiday market pop-ups.
I am extremely engaged and active in my community as a Black female entrepreneur. I have worked hard to create the change I wanted to see and the opportunities I wished were available to me when I started. The theory is essential; however the practical application is where true transformation and breakthroughs take hold, and the entrepreneurial spirit is born.
After so many conversations over the years with entrepreneurs in all sectors, we have celebrated our triumphs as well as vented about our pain points of the pressures upon us from the barriers set systemically before with little to no solutions.
Now, BASE VI is that solution.
“too often emerging artists are encouraged to, “figure it out,” independently, leading to burnout, attrition, or exclusion of voices that cannot afford prolonged instability, it’s time we change this cycle.”
CO-FOUNDER, LESEAN HARRIS
MISSION
Our mission is to nurture, protect and advance Black entrepreneurs and creatives by providing infrastructure, space and community necessary for growth over generations.
We exist as a strategic base where ideas are sharpened, information circulates and meaningful connections are made. Guided by values of care, harmony and collective responsibility, BASE VI supports Black talent through access to resources, relationships and environments that encourage both personal and professional excellence.
VISION
Base VI aspires to be a trusted anchor; a place of belonging where Black excellence is cultivated quietly and strategically, where collaboration replaces competition, and where long-term impact is prioritized over short-term visibility.
Aside from the business-readiness resources provided, BASE VI will offer black-owned co-working space including meeting rooms, event spaces and retail spaces for black artistic entrepreneurs to showcase, sell or distribute their work, product(s) or offering.
“BASE VI APPROACH IS informed by lived experience, professional success, and a responsibility to create pathways that did not previously exist.”
CO-FOUNDER, LESEAN HARRIS