Zahra is a celebrated public interest designer, civic entrepreneur, and leader. She is co-founder of Monumental, a partnership with Kofi Hope focused on creating fair and just cities and institutions.

Her professional practice has been focused on shifting power to underrepresented people in institutions and systems by designing deep, community-led approaches to policy, infrastructure, and service design.

She has taught at OCADU, MoMA and University of Toronto, and has contributed to many organizations including her current role as chair of Park People's Board of Directors. She is currently serving as Urbanist-in-Residence at the University of Toronto's School of Cities.