Hey! So Glad You're Here.

Zahra J. Brown is a Jamaican-Canadian, Black, lesbian, cisgender woman, who has two disabilities. She is hard of hearing, and she has a mild cerebral palsy. Zahra is often misgendered as a because of her gender expression.

 

Zahra is a York University graduate who earned a Master of Arts in Critical Disability Studies in 2020, and a Bachelor of Arts in Women’s Studies in 2014. She earned a diploma in Social Service Worker at George Brown College in 2016 and a certificate in General Arts and Science in 2004 at Seneca College.

 

Zahra’s passion for public speaking can be traced back to 2007, as one of the members of the keynote drama team at the U.S Presbyterian Youth Conference in North Carolina, being one of the keynote speakers and performing on stage. As a public speaker, she specializes in disability, self-advocacy, mental health, LGBTQ+ and more. As a former Humber College employee, 2016-2019, Zahra gained unparalleled experience of co-facilitating several human rights trainings for work-study students, while also establishing herself as a respected public speaker. 

 

In 2021, Zahra was an independent contractor, as an accessibility consultant for City of Toronto, where she developed a report of the Impact of COVID-19 on People with Disabilities in Toronto which highlighted key issues and accessibility barriers people with disabilities experienced and provided recommendations for the City of Toronto based on her research.

 

Zahra’s professional skills of critical thinking and public speaking has earned her opportunities to speak and present at colleges, universities, non-profit organizations, church youth conferences, social media and online.