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.

Partnerships and Consulting Lead

I'm calling from Ajax, Ontario, on the traditional and treaty territory of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island First Nation. I stand firmly in solidarity with the people of Palestine, Sudan, and the Congo. War is disabling people on a mass scale, and disabled people are often the last able to escape and the first to be left behind. I name these because disability justice, Indigenous justice, and Racial Justice are connected, and undoing colonial systems is part of our work. It is this truth that sits at the heart of all my work

I have over 20 years of experience in the labour market sector supporting people with disabilities in their career journey. I bring an entrepreneurial lens to my work so I'm always looking for new opportunities to build meaningful bridges, especially in my current role as the Partnerships and Consulting Lead at Race & Disability Canada.

Outside of work, I'm a  mother, foodie, a writer, and a reader of biographies-I'm always thinking about my next meal or someone else's life story. I've also never met an animal I didn't want to create a safe place for and my ideal day ends somewhere near the water.

I believe that everyone deserves a safe home, enough income to live on, and care that meets their needs, in a world designed with all of us in mind.

Digital Communications Coordinator

Born and raised in the coastal city of Chennai, I am proud to be Tamil, and everyday I find myself growing a deeper connection to my roots no matter where I live. This has been profoundly life changing for me in undoing the disconnection colonialism continues to create between us and our truest selves, our community, and our land. I presently live as a settler on the stolen lands of the Mississaugas of the Credit and the traditional territory of the Wendat, the Haudenosaunee, and many other Indigenous nations.

I cannot think about my disability without also thinking about my racial identity and their direct connection to - ongoing settler and neo colonialism and the resulting struggles for liberation that continue on in Palestine, in Sudan, in Congo, in Kashmir, in Indigenous communities on Turtle Islands, and other communities. However, I have often found that in mainstream disability and equity spaces I am having to actively avoid making these direct connections which is why I intentionally sought to work at the intersection of Race and Disability.

I am currently a full time Digital Communications Coordinator at Race and Disability Canada as well as an MA student in disability studies. At work I strategize and execute honest and accessible communications across all digital platforms in a way that honors our Indigenous, Black, and Racialized community members with disabilities. As a student I am especially interested in the critical analysis of disability through a decolonial, intersectional, and anti-racist lens. 

Critical thinking, transparency, reciprocity, and accessibility, grounded in an anti-colonial and anti-racist framework, are the starting points of any and all of my work.

Researcher

As a mixed race, shin-Nisei Japanese Canadian woman who grew up across different countries and cultural contexts, my lived experiences at these intersections of identity have shaped my deep-seated interest in questions of racial identity and belonging. I am especially passionate about creating opportunities to build a meaningful sense of belonging, where people are not only included but their lived experiences and knowledge are recognized as having epistemic validity. 

I hold a Master’s degree in Global Studies and International Development and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and East Asian Studies, and I bring nearly a decade of engagement with Japanese Canadian communities through community-engaged qualitative research, writing, facilitation, and community initiatives. My areas of expertise include: Community-engaged qualitative research; race, racism, and racialization; multiraciality and identity; Japanese Canadian and Nikkei communities; knowledge mobilization; facilitation. 

As a Community Researcher at Race & Disability Canada, I support community-engaged research and knowledge mobilization focused on the experiences of Indigenous, Black, and racialized people with disabilities. Staying true to Race and Disability Canada’s guiding principle of “nothing about us without us,” my role helps ensure that our research is shaped by and returned to the communities whose knowledge and experiences inform it.

Race is constructed; racism makes it consequential. What we construct, we have the power to challenge, dismantle, and reimagine. 

Belonging is more than inclusion – it is the power to shape our world.

Project Coordinator

As a woman of color living with disabilities, my lived experience shapes how I understand inclusion, accessibility, and belonging. I work at Race & Disability Canada because I care about breaking down the barriers that prevent people with disabilities from fully engaging in their workplaces and communities. I believe everyone should have the opportunity to participate, contribute, and thrive.

My background is in project management and community services, with experience in rural workforce development, cultural diversity training, and working as a Program Assistant in a community-based recovery program. These experiences have given me the opportunity to work with people from diverse backgrounds, support employment and community participation, and contribute to projects that respond to community needs. My areas of expertise include : Community Engagement, Project Management, Employment Services, Rural Workforce Development, Cultural Diversity and Inclusion training, Accessibility, and Community-based Program Support.

As the Project Coordinator at Race and Disability Canada I support the planning, coordination, and delivery of initiatives that advance inclusion and accessibility. 

I believe in creating a more inclusive world, one where disability is recognized not as a limitation, but as part of the diversity, strength, and richness of our communities. 

Program Development Manager

Being a visibly Muslim woman I am intimately familiar with how power imbalances manifest and maintain an inequitable status quo. Rather than vying for a seat at the table, I believe we need to build an entirely new and equitable one where everyone is seen, heard, and valued. I am energized by imagining a world where equity exists and justice prevails, and where communities that have been historically excluded are the drivers of change.

I am an equity and inclusion strategist, facilitator, and program leader with expertise in anti-racism, anti-oppression, program design, and community engagement. My Masters Degree in International Relations and Post-Degree Diploma in Nonprofit Management set the foundation for a career that has spanned more than two decades in the nonprofit and public sectors, as well as in community settings. A highlight of my career has been helping organizations translate their values into policies, practices, and cultures that reflect those commitments.

In my role as a Program Development Manager at Race & Disability Canada, I bring strategic program leadership, curriculum and facilitation expertise, and a sharp equity lens to 

develop and deliver engaging learning experiences, build relationships with community partners, and facilitate complex conversations with care and compassion. 

My practice is grounded in relationships, collaboration, and a commitment to building strong and inclusive communities.