Former Director of the Institute for the Study and Promotion of Autonomy (IEPA) at URACCAN University in Nicaragua

Dixie Lee Smith is from Bilwi/Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. Until late 2022, he was an academic at the University of the Autonomous Regions of the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua (URACCAN), where he directed IEPA (Instituto para el Estudio y Promoción de la Autonomía/ Institute for the Study and Promotion of Autonomy). Dixie is a civil leader who has served as a member of the advisory council of Indigenous and Afrodescendant peoples, created by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Nicaragua. In 2010, he co-founded AVOCENIC (Afro Voices Center of Nicaragua) whose purpose is to promote the collective rights of the Afrodescendant peoples of Nicaragua. Dixie has also done research on Afrodescendant cultural traditions and practices in Nicaragua, and co-hosted ‘Building Our Wellbeing Together’, Canal 5’s fortnightly Afrodescendant issues programme.