Our Staff

National Director

Raihanna Hirji-Khalfan has over 20 years of experience advancing disability justice, anti-racism, equity, and anti-oppressive practice across nonprofit and public sectors. She previously served as the Accessibility Officer at McMaster University, where she supported the University’s accessibility program and compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA). Raihanna is a seasoned facilitator with experience designing and delivering community-centred training and capacity-building initiatives, and in developing and managing programs alongside marginalized communities. She holds an undergraduate degree in law, an MSc in Business, an MA in Critical Disability Studies, and an LLM in Canadian Common Law.

Operations Manager

Chantaine Green-Leach is an accomplished Operations Specialist with expertise in the tech and innovation sector, focusing on empowering newcomer entrepreneurs to thrive in diverse and dynamic environments.Chantaine has also successfully delivered high-impact events for organizations like Visa Canada, the City of Brampton, and Angel Investors Ontario, combining strategic planning with a commitment to inclusivity and excellence in every initiative. At the University of Waterloo, she played a key role in introducing support services for racialized students, fueling her passion for creating meaningful institutional change. Chantaine remains dedicated to creating inclusive spaces and opportunities that empower others to advocate for themselves and succeed. 

Researcher

Rayanne Banaga is a community counsellor and educator with a background working extensively with black and racialized communities in anti-oppression and anti-colonialism education, youth empowerment, community-oriented mental health, and community-based research. She believes in a collaborative approach to learning, healing, and caring for one another and uses transformative and restorative frameworks to reflect this in her work. Rayanne is deeply interested in imagining and building a world that centers on the self-determination and liberation of marginalized communities.

Business Development Specialist

Karen Clarke is a Business Development Specialist with over 20 years of experience in the labour market sector. She has spent much of her career supporting people with disabilities in accessing and sustaining meaningful employment, and is deeply committed to advancing more inclusive and equitable workforce systems. Karen brings a thoughtful, systems-level perspective to her work, along with an entrepreneurial lens that helps her think creatively about sustainability and impact. She is especially interested in building approaches that connect research, leadership, and practice to create lasting systemic change.

Digital Communications Coordinator

Mithila is a communications professional and disability studies graduate student with a deep commitment towards social justice. She strongly believes that race and disability are inseparable and she “cannot think about disability without also thinking about race”.  In her role, she strategizes, and executes authentic, and accessible communications across various digital platforms. As a student, she is especially interested in the critical analysis of disability through a de-colonial and intersectional lens. Critical thinking, authentic intersectional representation, and accessibility are at the heart of all her work.

Researcher

Kai Mitsuru Wilkin is a community-based qualitative researcher whose work explores race, identity, and belonging, focusing on mixed race experiences, Japanese Canadian communities, and more recently, disability and inclusion. Drawing on an interdisciplinary background in global studies and psychology, Kai brings nearly a decade of engagement with Japanese Canadian communities through research, writing, and facilitation. She has led community-engaged research projects, facilitated antiracism workshops and panel discussions on anti-Asian racism, and contributed to initiatives that strengthen relationships and amplify community knowledge. Her work has been presented at academic conferences and community forums across Canada and internationally. Kai believes the strongest knowledge is created with and within communities.