Saira is a Gender and Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Consultant hailing from South Asia, and currently based in T’karonto, the largest city in the north of Turtle Island (Canada).
She played a central role in the launch and development of the Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID)’s Challenging Fundamentalisms and Women Human Rights Defenders programs. Saira has also worked with academic partners, civil society groups and grassroots WHRDs in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas with the International Civil Society Action Network, UN Women, the UN Trust Fund to End VAW, Femena, and Canadian Council of Muslim Women, and in partnership with CREA, Coalition for Sexual & Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies, and the SOAS/Emory Islamic Family Law Project, and serves on the board of the Society for Gender Professionals.
Saira has co-founded, played governance roles and worked in frontline organisations promoting access to justice and health rights; managing and growing settlement services for migrant communities; and expanding representation, equity and inclusion in civic and private sectors. More recently, she led the ‘Violence Against Women Community Coordination Committee’ for Peel Region, managing systems integration, primary research and network engagement for a cross-sectoral group of over 40+ partner agencies, civil service/government, and community service organisations that serve survivors of violence in greater T’karonto.
Currently, Saira consults in gender/inclusion auditing and training, strategic communications, and facilitation, as well as research, writing and editing. In her downtime, Saira is a failed cat-herder with an obsessive interest in linguistics and languages, and music from across the globe.