LFA2026 Curation Panel
Tayshan Hayden-Smith (he/him)
Founder of Grow to Know
Tayshan Hayden-Smith is a community leader, a creator of spaces, a champion for justice, and an advocate for the power of nature, art, and activism to transform lives. Born and raised in Ladbroke Grove, London, Tayshan’s identity was shaped by resilience, pride, and community. After spending his teenage years pursuing a career in academy and professional football, his path shifted in 2017 following the Grenfell Tower fire – a tragedy that struck the heart of his community. At just 21, Tayshan joined others in taking action, helping to cultivate a youth-led guerrilla gardening movement rooted in justice, hope, and the urgent call for change.
A not-for-profit subsequently flowered: through Grow to Know, founded by Tayshan in the wake of the Grenfell Tower fire, he has continued to experiment – trying and testing different approaches that blend changemaking with placemaking to rebuild hope, reclaim identity, and inspire joy and justice. Uniquely positioned through deep community trust, cultural fluency, and youth-led momentum, Grow to Know is rooted in lived experience of inequality and resilience at the intersection of environment, culture, equity, and design.
