Urwin Vyent is director of the Nationaal Instituut Nederlands slavernijverleden en erfenis (NiNsee). In addition to his work for NiNsee, Vyent is engaged in the development of a slavery museum in Amsterdam. He is a regular guest expert on various media platforms. His expertise is on the  impact of the Dutch slavery past. From 2010 to 2018, Vyent was district alderman in Amsterdam Zuidoost. From 2004 to 2010, he was director of Podium Kwakoe, a cultural organization that organizes debates, lectures, and conferences aimed at emancipating the Afro-Caribbean community in Amsterdam. In 2018 Vyent published De profeet aan de Para, about the difficult relationship between African-Surinamese religion and Judeo-Christian faith in twentieth-century Suriname. He also wrote Gekocht en betaald which details the life on the Surinamese plantation Onverwagt (2016).