Maira Asif (she/her) is a feminist strategist and gender and development practitioner whose work centers participatory practice, ethical research, and collective learning across global and grassroots contexts. Shaped by feminist movement-building and lived experience, her approach is grounded in care, accountability, and a deep commitment to redistributing power within institutions and development systems. Maira has led and contributed to gender-focused research, evaluation, and program strategy with UNDP, the Asian Development Bank, CARE, AVPN, ARROW, Banyan Global/USAID, and Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML). Her work spans education, financial inclusion, climate justice, sexual and reproductive health and rights, business and human rights, and feminist advocacy. Across these areas, she is known for designing participatory and mixed-methods processes that surface lived realities, challenge extractive knowledge practices, and translate insight into institutional change. At the core of Maira’s practice is a commitment to building learning environments that are relational, reflective, and politically grounded. She works closely with grassroots organisers, researchers, government actors, and donors to co-design strategies, evaluations, and capacity-building processes that center dignity, consent, and shared ownership. Her facilitation and research practice consistently foregrounds feminist ethics, asking not only what outcomes are achieved, but how work is done and who holds power along the way. Maira is the Founder and Lead of AARAAM Research & Learning Studio, a feminist practice dedicated to strengthening professional ecosystems through participatory learning, leadership development, and organizational practices rooted in care and justice. Through Aaraam, she supports movements and institutions to reimagine knowledge production, decision-making, and accountability in ways that are sustainable, humane, and transformative.