This Is Your Story Too…

The Women & Entheogens Conference was brought into form through the shared vision and leadership of Kai Wingo in Cleveland Ohio in 2015, inspired by Baba Kilindi Iyi and continued by Mama Ayana Iyi,—a family lineage of collaborators whose work helped shape spaces where plant medicine, community healing, and cultural integrity could meet. Today, this vision continues through Mama Ayana Iyi, carrying forward the roots they cultivated together.

Kai Wingo, an activist, urban farmer, and advocate based in Cleveland, Ohio, was a powerful force for inclusion and access within the psychedelic space. Her work helped ensure that Black, Indigenous, and marginalized communities were not only represented, but centered in conversations around healing and plant medicine.

Baba Kilindi Iyi was a pioneering mycologist, educator, and community leader whose research and teachings expanded global understanding of entheogenic mushrooms and their potential. His work bridged traditional knowledge, personal exploration, and large-scale community engagement—leaving a lasting imprint on the modern entheogenic landscape.

Mama Ayana Iyi continues this lineage as a guide, healer, and advocate, carrying forward ancestral wisdom through lived practice, education, and community leadership. Her presence ensures that the roots of this work remain intact while continuing to grow in present time.

Together, their contributions have helped shape a movement that has inspired organizers, educators, and communities across the world—including leaders such as Ifetayo Harvey and the People of Color Psychedelic Collective, among many others continuing this path.

This conference stands as a continuation of their vision—honoring what has been built, and tending what is still unfolding.