Ria is a PhD student in Social Work at McMaster University and the founder and director of The South Asian Yard (SAY). As a scholar, theorist, and community builder, she re-imagines how histories predating the Partition of India and discourses of izzat (honour) create intergenerational trauma that moves across borders and shapes the everyday lives of second-generation South Asian women in Canada.

Through SAY, Ria transforms research into practice, designing programs like Aria, Beena, and Chameli to support second-generation South Asian women in navigating parental control, while building lasting relationships, coping skills, and cultural validation. Her work bridges academic rigor and lived experience, centring young women’s voices and fostering spaces where healing and leadership can flourish.