Born in northern France into a family of Congolese origin, Marie grew up within a large family composed of both intellectuals and artists, with a strong identity. Starting dancing at the age of 8, she quickly developed a passion for languages and travel made possible by her family living on 5 continents.

With a bachelor’s degree in communication, a master’s degree in digital economy, and a concurrent of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs, she worked for many years in the music and audiovisual industry as a production assistant or press officer. Passionate about social and community projects, she ended up working as a social worker at the Paris City Hall, a position that led her to settle in São Paulo.

Its new functions allow it to support families and elderly people who are economically affected or in social isolation, from the center to the outskirts of the city. Despite this, her attraction to the arts and entrepreneurship never left her. So, besides managing the label she set up in Paris dedicated to the production of artists from the Caribbean scene, Mélodie Bèlè, Marie is involved in producing concerts, music videos, gives Afro-Congolese dance classes, manages the Instagram page of @blackpackeuses (traveling black French-speaking women)…

She represents the Parisian brand @hibouwax in Brazil, specialized in accessories and fabrics coming directly from Africa… Her latest action is to have joined forces with Salvador businesswomen to open a restaurant of African-Brazilian haute cuisine, the Roma Negra, located in the Pelourinho neighborhood, in the city’s historic center.

Speaking 4 languages and having traveled to over 25 countries, this mother of 2 princesses still has enough energy to develop projects, and get involved in initiatives that impact communities. And as she likes to say: “the human beings I have met in my travels are all essentially the same… except for a few details haha. When we are aware of this, we love more easily.

Multicultural and multifunctional, my field of work stretches between Europe, Africa, and the Americas. My experiences both in the area of social projects and entrepreneurship allow me to have a wide range of positive actions to perform at the level of public-private partnerships, event organization, multi-channel communication campaigns, or artistic and cultural development.