On New Year’s Day 2016, Mounir Nasri, Artsci’19, MMIE’20, arrived in Canada under the Syrian refugee sponsorship program. Today, this new Canadian is helping facilitate the service and program coordination between non-profit organizations, government, and the for-profit sector to better meet newcomer needs. These programs and services support newcomers on their settlement journey by providing access to information and opportunities.
Nasri is passionate about inclusive and sustainable innovation, city building, digital technologies, and designing innovative programs for refugees and newcomers. He actively volunteered and worked in the community development and tech sectors long before arriving in Canada.
Nasri is a Syrian Canadian-Armenian who was born and raised in Saudi Arabia. During his childhood, he was exposed to people of many cultures when he attended Italian and American schools. Toward the end of his elementary school experience, his family relocated back to Syria, where he spent the remainder of his childhood before moving to Lebanon for university during the war in Syria.
Nasri originally attended university for computer engineering but quickly got involved in community volunteer initiatives because that was what was needed in his community at the time. This period of his life was meaningful for Nasri, as he got to see the social impact of his work with international non-governmental organizations and community-building initiatives that impacted hundreds.
“I’ve always been fascinated with people, new ideas, and change, ever since I was a child,” says Nasri. “So, within a few months of arriving in Canada, I started being more involved in the community and found a work opportunity with the ACSA - Newcomers' Centre where I helped lead a number employment, skills building, and entrepreneurship programs for newcomers” At this time, many Syrian refugees were coming to Canada and Nasri felt his skills and experience were heavily valued.
It was Nasri’s passion for cultural bridging, community building, and creating meaningful opportunities that led him to the idea of returning to school. Being able to continue his full-time job and getting his previous university credentials transferred was a huge priority for Nasri, and a non-negotiable when looking for the right program. He chose the Global Development Studies program at Queen’s because it is fully remote (even before the pandemic) and allowed him to utilize the skills he was learning in his classes every day at work.
As he approached the end of his undergraduate degree, Nasri still wanted to further develop his skill set in order to bring more innovation to newcomer programming and other projects. Cue Nasri coming across the Master of Management, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship at Smith School of Business. Once again, he would complete the program remotely to continue with his full-time job. The program was attractive to him, as innovation has always been a huge part of his life, especially as a refugee. “You have to be innovative and adaptable when moving to a new country to deal with the barriers, challenges of navigating legal status and trying to set up life in a new place are never easy,” says Nasri.
Nasri has been recognized for his innovation, business, and management skills throughout his career and was hired as an advisor to several newcomer development projects, in addition to being invited as a guest speaker and programmer at a variety of panels and events. In 2016, The Luminato Festival (Toronto's International Festival of Arts and Ideas) invited him to participate in designing inclusive art and culture programs for refugees. He was also one of the former Young Advisors and a guest speaker for 6 Degrees, the global forum for inclusion and a project by the Institute for Canadian Citizenship, a national charity co-founded and co-chaired by The Right Honourable Adrienne Clarkson, LLD’03, and John Ralston Saul, LLD’03.
In January 2020, Nasri became a Canadian citizen and currently works with Toronto’s Local Immigration Partnership in a project management role. He is also the Co-Chapter Lead for Techfugees Toronto and sits on the Programming Committee at The Toronto Ward Museum. His work centers on helping people navigate change, elevating their voices and concerns, and leading and coordinating cross-sectoral innovative collaborations and programs to build and sustain welcoming and inclusive communities for new Canadians.
Earlier this year, Nasri got published and credits his experience at Queen’s and his affiliation with the school as a contributing factor that made this opportunity possible.
Nasri strives to create the bridge that will bring inclusive, sustainable, and meaningful change within our local and global communities. He believes in providing people with the resources, tools, and space to “use their voice, share their stories, concerns, and lead the change that they want to see in their lives and communities to make a social impact.”
