Nyarayi Kapisavanhu

Nyarayi Kapisavanhu was appointed by Niagara Regional Council as its community representative to serve on the Niagara Police Service Board on February 23, 2023.  In this capacity, she has served as Vice-Chair for two terms and is currently Chair of the Board.

Nyarayi is the founder and Executive Director of TOES Niagara, holding a Bachelor of Education and a Master of Business Administration.  She is a globally experienced executive, policy strategist, respected governance and strategy leader, and community innovator whose work bridges governance and institutional accountability, public safety, sustainable education, and International Development.  One of her most significant achievements is the founding and scaling of TOES Niagara, which she and her team has built into a trusted delivery organization stewarding millions of dollars in government and international funding. Through TOES Niagara and related initiatives, Nyarayi has developed and implemented various programs including youth mentorship and has had research projects published. She has led strategy, policy reform, and prevention work in areas including community safety, human trafficking prevention, equity-informed governance, and organizational development.

Nyarayi’s work and leadership experience has been shaped across continents and cultures. She a multilingual communicator who has lived and continues to work across Europe, The Middle East and Africa, delivering multi-country, multi-jurisdictional initiatives under the European Union Erasmus+ framework. She supports governments and institutions in Africa to reimagine development through a decolonized lens—centering local leadership, dignity, and sustainability over extractive aid models. This breadth of experience has given Nyarayi a rare ability to move with ease between systems, cultures, and power structures, while remaining deeply grounded in people. Nyarayi’s ability to adapt across environments—public sector, private enterprise, community-based organizations, and international governance contexts—has made her a trusted advisor where complexity, power dynamics, and public trust intersect.

Nyarayi currently serves President of the Niagara District Council of Women as well as Co-Chair of the Strategic Planning Committee for the National Council of Women Canada. She is the past President of SOFIFRAN, and past Board Trustee at Brock University and past board director at YWCA Niagara. Nyarayi is a strong believer in that ‘strength can be principled, governance can be humane, and power can be held with grace’. Her work reflects a deep commitment to institutional accountability, and the belief that strong public systems are built when governance, policy, and human dignity are aligned. In her work life, Nyarayi lives by the adage, ‘Individuals should leave behind more than policy and programs— they should leave behind possibility.’