About

Fostering lasting peace and connection through story, empathy, and celebration of diverse ways of knowing and being.

Bridging Divides, Transforming Conflicts: A Visionary Leader in Peacebuilding

A portait of Somia Sadiq smiling and sitting on a stool.

With an inherent drive to decolonize systems, Somia has always sought to inspire and uplift young leaders, particularly those from traditionally marginalized and minority populations. Somia aims to foster workplaces and societies that embody principles of humility, respect, and reciprocity.

Somia is the founder of Narratives Inc., an award-winning Planning and Design firm based in Winnipeg. She also founded Kahanee, a non-profit in Canada dedicated to amplifying stories and promoting peacebuilding through storytelling, and Ravayat, a welfare organization based in Pakistan that spotlights ancestral community-based conflict transformation systems.

Portrait of Somia Sadiq

Professional Expertise

With over two decades of experience in impact assessment, and environmental planning, Somia has worked with governments, communities, and organizations globally to bridge divides and foster meaningful, systemic transformation. A highly sought-after keynote speaker, she blends business acumen with cultural wisdom, storytelling, and humor to inspire action in leadership, policy, and peacebuilding spaces.

Recognized for her groundbreaking contributions, she was inducted into the College of Fellows of the Canadian Institute of Planners, the highest honor for a professional planner in Canada. She has been featured on major podcasts and media platforms, sharing insights on identity-based conflict resolution, trauma-informed leadership, and the power of narratives in shaping societies.

Keynote Speaking Topics and Areas of Expertise

Somia is always open to joining the conversation. Engage her for insights on:
Story-Led Planning
Start with a story, a drumbeat, and definitely food. Watch people lean in, drop their guard, and start sharing truths that actually moves decisions.
Urban Planning for Belonging & Language Justice
Bus stops, courtyards, and parks that speak the languages people live in. No translation tax. No “you figure it out.” Just clear signals you belong here.
Trauma-Informed Planning & Public Engagement
Set the room, pace the process, protect the people. When grief and anger show up, let’s turn them into learning and design choices, not another wound.
Reconciliation in Practice: Municipal and Indigenous Partnerships
From handshake to shared stewardship. Co-govern, co-invest, co-design, co-build, and co-monitor – it’s the only way.
Negotiating the City: Environmental Planning and Natural Resource Conflicts
Water, forests, energy corridors, sacred sites. Under climate pressure, we map the risks, honour the keepers, and craft agreements that outlast politics.
Courageous Leadership
Lead like you mean it, even when the room wasn’t built for you. Build tables where courage is measured by the change you make, not the comfort you keep.
Justice vs. Optics: From Performative to Structural Change
Redirect resources, rewrite the rules, with others, and rebuild systems so justice is measured by lasting impact - not by how good it looked on launch day.
Futuremaking 2100: Long-Range Planning with Memory & Equity
Ask the grandmothers. Listen to the kids. Imagine futures rooted in climate truth and cultural memory, where those who come after us will not just live, but belong.
For speaking, press, and media inquiries please contact Caitlin Copple, Full Swing PR.
Somia is an exceptional and inspiring speaker. Her presentation offered solutions and constructive steps for meaningful reconciliation.
Somia stands at a platform with a microphone speaking
Quotation marks
Excellent and engaging speaker.
Somia stands at a panel in traditional Pakastani clothing
Quotation marks
She was an exceptional speaker.
Somia stands at a platform, speaking and gesturing to a large audience
Vision
Fostering lasting peace and connection through story, empathy, and celebration of diverse ways of knowing and being.
Mission
Create a world where people and communities flourish in peace and connection, where trauma is acknowledged and healed, and where legacies of empathy shape a brighter future for all generations.