Connecting the diaspora with cool.

Cool people, places, & Experiences.

Buoyant; buoy·ant

  1. able or apt to stay afloat or rise to the top

  2. cheerful and optimistic

    Similar: carefree, joyful, zestful, floating

I've been a bridge builder my whole life—connecting friends to mentors, family to our ancestral history, and now the diaspora to transformative experiences and each other. What started as a scared college student participating in a business pitch competition (me!) became a $600 winning startup fund for my dorm-room-born business and ultimately a mission to connect Black people globally.

After studying abroad in London, I realized how scattered we are across every corner of the world, always searching for ways back to each other. When a startup accelerator director at my university told me that Black people connecting through travel "couldn't make money," I knew they were wrong. So I graduated, came home, and continued building anyway.

In 2019, I took a leap to Ghana—a place I'd never been—during the Year of Return with 13 people for our first group trip. Those who joined us built lifelong connections with the continent and each other. Some remain friends today and have even traveled elsewhere together. We were onto something bigger than just trips.

Buoyant is a cultural experiences company inspired by travel and global Black history and culture. We host group trips and events, run an alum member club, and curate experiences that connect the diaspora with cool people, places, and Black-owned businesses.

Whether in Atlanta or Accra, we'll connect you with what and who matters. For us, travel is about connections that lead to education and building bridges. We see it as a critical component of Black liberation.

We're building bridges toward a world where Black people everywhere believe and understand why we belong to each other.

And we see you.

With gratitude

Briona Lamback, Founder & CEO, Buoyant

“We are each other's harvest; we are each other's business; we are each other's magnitude and bond.”

―Gwendolyn Brooks

Meet the Team

Buoyant is Baltimore-based and Black-woman-owned and operated. Meet our team, global partners, travelers—our kinfolk.

A Black woman with long, black, curly hair wearing a beige top, gold hoop earrings, and a yin-yang tattoo on her right wrist, standing against a reddish-brown wall.

  • Founder/CEO

    Briona is an award-winning travel journalist and food writer with stories in Condé Nast Traveler, Atlas Obscura, BBC Travel, and more. She founded Buoyant in 2017 from her dorm room as a part of a university business pitch competition and won!

    Since then, she has been on a mission to connect with the Black diaspora globally through travel and storytelling.

    Favorite destinations: Accra, London, Salvador

    Favorite hotel: Hotel Genevieve in Louisville, Kentucky

    Favorite cocktail: I take cocktails very seriously (fun fact: I learned to bartend in an East London bar!), and my favorite is a well-balanced Old Fashioned.

A Black woman with blonde braided hair wearing a purple and white tie-dye shirt, sitting at a table with her arms crossed, holding a phone in her right hand, with a serious expression, and a background of people at a social event.

  • Events & Operations Director

    Brittany has nearly a decade of experience planning and managing events for top organizations in the hospitality industry, from museums to wineries. She loves combining her passion for the finest details with a love of seeing the world and experiencing Black cultures globally.

    Favorite destinations: Accra, London, Puerto Rico, New York

    Favorite hotel: Finca Victoria in Vieques, Puerto Rico

    Favorite cocktail: On an island, a fresh coconut margarita! Stateside, a good Margarita!

Our Global Partners

  • A woman in a red dress is standing on a boat, holding a phone, smiling, with two women sitting behind her on the boat, near a body of water, and buildings and trees in the background.

    CyCy

    EXPERIENCE PARTNER, GHANA

  • A smiling woman outdoors, wearing round sunglasses, a colorful patterned halter top, and light-colored shorts, with a blurred background that includes wooden beams.

    Carina S.

    EXPERIENCE PARTNER, BRAZIL

  • A smiling man standing on a beach with mountains in the background and ocean waves hitting the shore.

    David M.

    PHOTOGRAPHER, GHANA

  • A woman with curly, natural hair styled in an afro, wearing a white t-shirt and large hoop earrings, sitting indoors against a textured concrete wall.

    Heather B.

    CREATIVE CONSULTANT, US

Our Kinfolk

Five diverse people sitting on a green sofa, smiling and chatting in a cozy, stylish room with plants and a woven wall hanging.
A smiling woman wearing sunglasses, a white tank top, a colorful skirt, and sneakers, standing next to a colorful mural on a wall that reads "I ♥ being black."
Two young women standing on a wooden pathway, taking a selfie. They are outdoors in a lush garden with plants and trees, and a sign that reads 'Hilburi' is visible in the background.
A woman in a yellow strapless jumpsuit, wearing sunglasses and holding a colorful folding fan, stands inside an old, weathered building by an open window, gazing outside on a sunny day.
Four women sitting together on a low concrete bench in a sunny outdoor urban setting, with buildings and a multi-level patio with people in the background.
Three smiling women standing in front of a lively marketplace stall with colorful African clothing, accessories, and bags.