Caribbean culinary entrepreneur and author Hollis Barclay has launched #WhatSheTaughtMe, a living digital archive and open-letter campaign honoring Caribbean women whose labor, sacrifice, and influence helped shape generations across Guyana and the wider diaspora.
The initiative was unveiled on Monday with 15 days remaining before Guyana marks its 60th Independence anniversary on May 26.
According to organizers, the campaign invites Guyanese and Caribbean people around the world to submit open letters reflecting on the women who influenced their lives — including grandmothers, mothers, aunties, and matriarchs — as part of the country’s Diamond Jubilee commemorations.
Submissions are being collected through a dedicated digital platform hosted by Caribbean CEO Kitchen, which organizers said has already begun receiving entries from members of the Guyanese diaspora in New York City, Toronto, London, and Georgetown.
“The coal pot was never just a cooking tool. It was a boardroom. The women who ran those kitchens were the first CEOs Guyana ever had; they just weren’t given the title. This campaign gives them the title,” Barclay said.
Participants are encouraged to begin their submissions with the words “What she taught me…” and share a memory, lesson, or dish connected to the women who shaped them.
Organizers said the 10 most resonant letters will be published in the upcoming edition of Barclay’s cookbook, From Coal Pot to Corporate CEO, while all other submissions will become part of a permanent digital archive documenting Caribbean women’s wisdom and legacy.
The campaign is being produced through Caribbean CEO Kitchen in partnership with the launch of the cookbook’s Diamond Jubilee Collector’s Edition, which will be released in a limited run of 1,000 individually numbered and signed copies commemorating Guyana’s 60th anniversary of independence.
According to organizers, the cookbook explores the journey from Guyana’s traditional coal pot kitchens to the executive and professional spaces occupied by members of the Guyanese diaspora today. It also features recipes representing the country’s six ethnic traditions, alongside historical notes connecting each dish to its cultural origins.
Guyana’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations are being held under the national theme “The Homecoming,” with events planned in Georgetown and across diaspora communities, including celebrations at the Consulate General of Guyana in New York and the annual Guyanese Independence Parade in Flatbush, Brooklyn, on June 7.
Organizers described the #WhatSheTaughtMe initiative as a cultural document intended to preserve living histories through the voices of Caribbean families rather than formal institutions.
Barclay, who has spent more than 15 years working in hospitality leadership, restaurant ownership, institutional food service management, and culinary storytelling, said the project reflects his broader mission of preserving Caribbean culture through food, storytelling, and community memory.
