Sally El Sayed is a PhD student in architecture at Carleton University’s Azrieli School of Architecture & Urbanism. Her research focuses on Black public space, grassroots architectural practice, and the ways communities create and sustain public life in housing-adjacent spaces.
Raised in Ottawa, Sally’s work is shaped by lived experience, community-based design practice, and ongoing involvement in housing and public-space projects across the city. She is interested in how architecture can move beyond consultation toward more accountable relationships with Black communities, particularly in contexts marked by displacement, underinvestment, and limited access to land, capital, and governance.
She is also a Research and Design Lead with the Architecture Action Lab, where she supports community-led design initiatives in Ottawa.