Zahra Ebrahim is a public interest designer and strategist, and an established bridge builder across grassroots and institutional spaces. Her work has focused on community-led approaches to policy, infrastructure, and service design. Prior to Monumental, she built and led Doblin Canada, Deloitte’s Human-Centred Design practice. In her early career, Zahra led one of Canada’s first social design studios, working with communities to co-design towards better social outcomes, leading some of Canada’s most ambitious participatory infrastructure and policy programs. Zahra has taught at OCADU, MoMA, and is currently an Urbanist-in-Residence at the University of Toronto’s School of Cities. She has been recognized as a Next City Vanguard Civic Leader, Ascend Canada’s Mentor of the Year, one of “Tomorrow’s Titans” in Toronto Life magazine, one of WXN’s Top 100 Women in Canadian Business, and most recently recognized as one of the Urban Land Institute’s WLI Champions. Zahra is currently a Board member of the Toronto Arts Council, the Canadian Urban Institute, and Board Chair for Park People. Her work has been featured across international media, and she regularly delivers speaking engagements to audiences across the country.

Eunice Wong is an award-winning urban designer, artist, and relentlessly curious person shaping more just, whimsical, and empathetic cities. As the Design and Placemaking Lead at Monumental – a social purpose consultancy and studio based in Toronto – Eunice champions equity- and joy-centered design, believing that vibrant cities are built with communities, not just for them. Over their career, including as an Associate / Senior Urban Designer at the Toronto studio of Perkins&Will, they developed expertise in community engagement, public realm and streetscape design, mobility, resiliency, and neighbourhood-scaled master planning. Their community-centered approach to their design work has been awarded a National Urban Design Award for Community Initiatives, an AIA Canada Award of Merit, a Canadian Society of Landscape Architects Award of Excellence, and an OPPI PlanON Public Education award. A big source of inspiration and joy for Eunice is being able to teach and learn from students, having taught urban design courses and studios at University of Toronto’s Daniels Faculty of Architecture, Landscape, and Design, University of Waterloo’s School of Planning, and Toronto Metropolitan University’s School of Urban and Regional Planning. Eunice’s curiosity spans people and places: from human experience to urban systems, from identities to intersections (literally, and figuratively). They live in the west end of Toronto with their lovely partner Daniel and silly rescue dog Peanut.

Mo is a photographer, designer, and urban planner who believes in the power of the collective to build vibrant and inclusive urban communities. With a Bachelor’s in Fine Art from OCADU and a Master of Planning in Urban Development from TMU, they prioritize inclusive collaboration and equitable arts-based engagement approaches that bring underrepresented communities to the drawing board where they can shape urban places and policy. Mo has examined the policy, infrastructure and social barriers that continue to exclude marginalized communities by facilitating workshops, co-design sessions and focus groups with diverse voices, including newcomers, international students, and older adults. They draw on their artistic background to engage with folks playfully and unpretentiously while designing engaging knowledge sharing tools accessible to all. Their arts-based approach to community engagement was recognized with the Downtown Yonge Award of Excellence in Place-Making, awarded to their TMU graduate studio team for their community engagement and tenant-tailored visual guidebook for the Toronto Senior Housing Corporation (TSHC)’s yearly meetings. Mo’s passionate about bridging the in/formal gaps between communities and practitioners by democratizing knowledge and challenging the hierarchies of formality in city building processes. They’re dedicated to using their access and expertise to amplify community voices and design visual tools that can empower the individual and inspire collective, collaborative action towards more just, inclusive and responsive cities.

Kofi Hope is a Rhodes Scholar and has a Doctorate in Politics from Oxford University. He is the Co-Founder of Monumental. He writes a monthly opinion column for the Toronto Star newspaper and is an Urbanist in Residence at the University of Toronto School of Cities, an emeritus Bousfield Scholar with the Geography and Planning department and a Senior Fellow at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy. He serves as a board member for the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and has volunteered widely across Toronto. In 2017 he was winner of the Jane Jacobs Prize and in 2018 a Rising Star in Toronto Life’s Power List. Kofi was the co-founder and inaugural Executive Director of the charity the CEE Centre for Young Black Professionals, now Canada’s largest charity serving Black youth. Kofi has been featured widely across the Canadian media and has delivered over 250 public talks to date.

Sara is an award-winning urban and cultural planner with 15 years of experience in city-building, community engagement, and cultural planning. Passionate about creating more equitable, creative, and compassionate cities, she believes that collaborative and inclusive processes lead to the most meaningful outcomes. Building trust and supportive networks with communities and colleagues is at the heart of her work. Sara has delivered numerous strategic plans for cultural institutions, public space operators, nonprofits and municipalities that require deep stakeholder and public consultations.In her previous role co-founding PROCESS, an urban and cultural planning studio, she developed and nurtured a team and collaborated on a diversity of complex city building and organizational projects, with municipalities, developers and nonprofits. She is also the co-founder of Crazy Dames (crazydames.com), an art collective that designs and delivers art projects centered on city building and creative community engagement.

Alyson Doyle-Braithwaite is a community justice and social equity advocate dedicated to cultivating meaningful, people-centered change. With extensive experience in community engagement and community-building, and a degree in Environmental and Urban Sustainability from Toronto Metropolitan University, she has led programs and facilitated workshops that empower diverse communities, foster collaboration, and build practical skills for action. Alyson’s work spans higher education, nonprofits, and advocacy, where she has developed strategic partnerships, secured funding for sustainability and community initiatives, and created spaces for BIPOC voices to shape environmental and social policy. Through her experience mentoring youth and coordinating community programs, Alyson remains committed to supporting others as they navigate systemic barriers and build confidence in their leadership journeys. She believes deeply in the power of intentional learning, collective care, and community-building to drive lasting impact.