Today we’d like to introduce you to Kenny Mascary.
Kenny , let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
As far as I can recall, there are mainly 2 chapters to my story: the first half takes place in Haiti, where I was raised, until I was 17. The second half starts when I returned to the states and moved to Boston to pursue a college education and I’ve been here since.
I currently live and work in Cambridge as a youth advocate and program director with the Department of Health and Service Programs. I am also the co-founder and curator of NYA.Boston, a basketball official, apprentice DJ and photographer.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
NYA was founded to fight the insatiable desire of communities of color to feel welcomed, appreciated and celebrated in the city; Boston does a great job cultivating and developing generations of leaders and innovators from around the world, only to see them leave for more vibrant and more hip cities like New York, San Fran, LA, DC, etc…
That is a tall order to achieve in a city like Boston. There is a lot of red tape, history and politics to maneuver around. So we have to be extremely mindful of who and where we do business with because of how we structure our events. I can say that we’ve gotten lucky so far that we’ve been able to work with folks that understand our vision.
That’s continuously going to be a major challenge for us, however, we are happy with what we’ve been able to accomplish. Compared to other cities, we still have ways to go; over the last 3-5 years, however, we’ve noted some progress and we’re just happy to be able to do our part.
Please tell us about NYA.Boston.
NYA.Boston (Not Your Average) is a collective of afrocentric creatives and cultural ideologists. Our main goal is to offer fresh & unique social experiences to our city’s dynamic and emerging conglomerate of eclectic citizens. For the last 3 years, we’ve been proud to host “Rhythm & Brunch”, a monthly R&B themed brunch party in the West End; we also host “Run That Back”, an interactive arcade/game night in the South End, and “Rock The Mic”, a karaoke event in Fenway. We’ve also held our first out of state event in DC during Broccoli City Festival and it was super dope.
I’ve also mentioned that I am a basketball official. My secondary dream is to start a refereeing program and develop girls (youth) basketball in Haiti. Therefore, a portion of the proceeds from our events are geared towards that work.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
oh man! I have a younger brother and we spent a lot of time together growing up. We argued A LOT because we’re only 2 years apart but we had so much fun together. I can’t really think of ONE favorite childhood memory but I’m sure my brother was there that day.
Contact Info:
- Website: NYABoston.com
- Instagram: NYA.Boston
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