Raïsa Mirza - Writer and Editor of the Community Substack

Raïsa is a systemic designer and researcher who seeks to embed empathy and care into systems, services and organisations. She is an immigrant to Turtle Island/Canada and has lived experience navigating herself and others through immigration processes, working class poverty and institutional racism. She has lived in 4 provinces and 9 countries. She has worked across Canada and internationally in over 20 countries.

She is the founder of the Rural Design Network and of WabiSabiJetty, a rural design innovation & foresight consultancy. She is currently supporting youth-centered innovation and systems transformation through the Communities Building Youth Futures network at the Tamarack Institute for Community Engagement and as Head of Social Impact Initiatives at UWC Atlantic College, in rural Wales in the UK. She is a proud Board member of MakeWay Foundation and the Community Sector Council Newfoundland and Labrador and is an affiliate of the Open Lunar Foundation.

She is a graduate of McGill University (International Development & Environment) and has completed graduate coursework at Memorial University (Geography). In 2021, she was chosen as one of 20 ‘Positive Deviants’ in Canada completing a year-long fellowship with the Wolf Willow Institute for Systems Change. She has certifications in Strategic Foresight through the Futures School and in Innovation Governance through the Council of Canadian Innovations.