We have all heard the words – you’re not what you do and your career doesn’t define you. But what if you could build a career that was you in the best way possible? A career built from your deepest values, created and fueled by your passions and one that ultimately healed you?
Development researcher turned social innovator and cultural leader, Hima Batavia, has let culture, curiosity and creativity guide her. It has led her across the globe to work with marginalized communities ; create meaningful experiences; and most recently take on public art projects to shape a more equitable and radical culture for Toronto. Her story is about shaping her own path and letting a seeking energy guide her.
You worked as a researcher for the Clinton Health Access Initiative and the UN Foundation in New Delhi and across parts of Africa. What inspired you to pursue a career in international development?
It was a time in my life that I was seeking. I was looking for adventure, but also thinking about what it means to create impact, tackle big problems and how I could use my mind and energy to do contribute. I believe in different kinds of empathy and I was outraged that so many people struggle to have a good human experience as a result of poor systems.
Working in development, I saw up close how power flows, how agendas are built, how governments manage massive problems, how knowledge is disseminated – it scaled my thinking. It was a crash course in being human – it’s where I understood the true impact of white supremacy, it shaped my politics and showed me just how difficult the human experience is for millions of people.
I saw up close how power flows, how agendas are built, how governments manage massive problems, how knowledge is disseminated – it scaled my thinking.
Another huge draw to international development was that it let me connect with my homeland – my parents are from East Africa and my ancestry is Indian, so I felt an emotional resonance with those places. I chalk it up to an inter-generational connection.
Do you think we are going through a collective awakening right now about how destructive many of our choices have been for millions of people?
I think even as a young child, I was willing to expose myself to the uncomfortable realities of the world, but I agree that there is a collective awakening now. In this moment we can see how our lives, choices, power and capitalism have this wider impact on the lives of so many people. Power is especially interesting because when someone is in their authentic power it’s mesmerizing but marry that with ego and unprocessed trauma and it can be so destructive.
International development awakened me to larger problems, but it also crushed me because the problems are large, entrenched and systemic. Many of the problems we are talking about in Canada and the US around racism, white supremacy, wealth inequality and who gets access to resources have been at the foundation of larger global issues. Seeing this fueled me to work in international development. I wanted to continue, but I believe that to do it with integrity I would need to commit to living abroad and in the communities I was working with. You need to immerse yourself in the culture and the history of a place, but being away from family and friends took an emotional toll.
Many of the problems we are talking about around racism, white supremacy, wealth inequality and who gets access to resources have been at the foundation of larger global problems.
A significant portion of your early career was spent in global health with a focus on South Asia and Africa. What are some of the biggest challenges to women’s health that you observed during your time in that space?
The challenges are so varied when it comes to health in each country but also in each town, or community. Women have a lot of influence over healthcare in rural areas, but it’s my theory that change comes down to culture. Culture, as an expression of values, translates into policy and decisions. In cultures where women have been historically devalued, they are impacted by policy, resource flows and even the narrative around what it means to be a woman and prioritize health.
It’s my theory that change comes down to culture. Culture, as an expression of values, is translates into policy and decisions. In cultures where women have been historically devalued, they are impacted by policy, resource flows and even the narrative around what it means to be a woman and prioritize health.
At the tactical level, many women don’t have access to education which directly impacts health. And of course, there is a tremendous lack of resources. In rural India, the infrastructure, amenities, medications are so sparse. In many cases a hospital is a room with a bed. Women’s health issues are complicated and there simply isn’t the infrastructure to adequately address them.
In many cases, the problem is compounded by geography, weather, rural infrastructure. For example, the logistical challenge of getting drugs, medication, equipment out to village communities is massive. Aside from the logistical hurdles, there are knowledge gaps, language barriers, rampant poverty, ancestral ways of doing things that clash with modern medicine so if you are examining the entire gamut of challenges, there are so many to overcome. If you think about how difficult it is for us to navigate healthcare in Toronto, the coordination and advocacy it takes to get the right information to patients and doctors, imagine the challenges in India.
I think about being a woman in the West, with so much access, and I still struggle to navigate the healthcare system here. We are in the one percent when it comes to global healthcare and it is complicated. So much of women’s health has been historically understudied, so if you extrapolate that to countries with poorly developed systems, it has a huge impact on health.
The great thing about women’s healthcare is that it is innate. Women in rural communities lead the charge on giving information, educating mothers on pregnancy, infant health and vaccines. As difficult as the healthcare challenges are, women are the forefront of change in this space. But ultimately, women’s health depends on how women are valued, and sadly we still have a long way to go, globally, especially in countries like India and in parts of Africa.
The great thing about women’s healthcare is that it is innate. Women in rural communities lead the charge on giving information, educating mothers on pregnancy, post-pregnancy and infant health and vaccines.
What did you learn about yourself through your time in international development, living in India?
I felt I was called to India and that work, at that time. And almost everyone I met working in international development, felt like they were called to it as well. It was a hard time in many ways, but I learned so much about myself and what I am capable of – the biggest thing being that I am adaptable.
Adaptability, I believe, is one of the core skills you need to do that kind of work. To be dropped anywhere in the world, create connections with local communities and work in collaboration to figure it out. To be open and humbled by new ways of doing and being, even if you’re not entirely familiar with them. It’s something that surprises me now about people, and how cautious they are. Especially when it comes to work and new projects, I find that we ask a lot of questions and want much more information than we really need instead of trusting it all to unfold.
I think the adaptability muscle let me figure things out, cultivate new friendships, cultivate a family when I was so far from home and create a community.
I think the adaptability muscle let me figure things out, cultivate new friendships, cultivate a family when I was far from home and create a community.
You co-founded a non-profit organization called Reset. Why the shift to community building and what have you learned as a social entrepreneur?
I’ve never been a five-year plan kind of person, so when I got back from India, I was figuring out my next step. I felt I needed to reconnect with play, after this chapter in development. I was consulting for the UN Foundation, but I was also exploring. So, I decided to give myself a year to do two things – find a community and find people I can co-create with.
Reset came about after a trip to San Francisco. I met some people who had all gone to a camp, called Camp Grounded, that was essentially a summer camp for adults – a no phones, no screens, no work talk detox. Hearing about it, inspired me to co-create a similar community here within Toronto, with 7 other individuals. Reset took us on a five-year journey where we produced tech-free, immersive experiences that fostered play, presence and personal growth.. It led to a community of people I could co-create with; people who are now like my chosen family.
Culture for me is the translation of values into experience and so entrepreneurship was creating a vision and culture that aligned with my values.
The first year of producing Reset, I learned a lot of lessons about creating a culture and experience that takes people on a journey into the unknown. When I think about what I’ve learned and what I am good at, I feel like culture resonates with me. My values drive me, so that is my number one priority. Culture for me is the translation of values into experience and so entrepreneurship was creating a vision and culture that aligned with my values.
You’re now the Director of Creative Placemaking Lab, leading a new social enterprise dedicated to public art projects. What exactly is public art and how do we understand it in Toronto?
Last year, my business partner and I decided to go our separate ways and I was back in an exploratory space. After much consideration, I decided to take on a role at Artscape as the Director of the Creative Placemaking Labs (CPL), that works at the intersection of culture, city building and art. So, it fits with things that interest me.
If artists are pushed out, the city loses vibrancy.
One way to think about public art is through the context of the culture of a city. In a lot of ways, the thing that keeps us attached to any city, is culture. Culture is both visible and invisible. Theatre, public art, festivals, the energy of a city is the visible culture. Invisible culture is stuff that’s in walls, in buildings, in how people relate to each other, in how you prioritize business and how you prioritize art. If artists are pushed out, the city loses vibrancy.
Artscape, an arm of CPL, started a movement thirty years ago to work with developers to build affordable housing for artists. The theory was that if artists are clustered, they contribute to the vibrancy, sustainability and culture of a community. They have had a large footprint on the city over the last 30 years, from Queen West, to the Distillery District.
Artscape is such an integral part of Toronto. What is the specific work you’re doing now?
I am working on a new social enterprise called Artscape Atelier, which works with developers to expand the footprint of public art. When you’re building out new communities, you must think about the look, the feel and experience of a new community. How do we design new communities in a way that honors the history of the land, the communities that inhabit the land and their stories, dreams and visions?
When we think about public art, what comes to mind are statues and monuments, but it also includes benches, planters, murals and open air theater programming. It’s important to ground the work in the lived experiences of the people who live in these communities. As an example, the recent removal of monuments that paid homage to former slave owners, is an example of how public art reinforced and celebrated a history that was violent and oppressive to many people who live in Toronto. So, we are working with city-builders to expand public art opportunities across Toronto and Ontario.
The recent removal of monuments that paid homage to former owners, is an example of how public art reinforced and celebrated a history that was violent and oppressive to many people who live in Toronto.
Chatting with Hima, makes me think about how we understand careers and the linear, upward trajectory we hope they will be. It reminds me, that so many of us choose careers way too young, when we don’t know ourselves. We stick to the path for the rest of our lives, rarely pivoting or seeking something different, as we change.
But what strikes me, is that to achieve a healing career, we need to actively seek a different perspective. It’s the perspective that allows us to reimagine and reinvent ourselves. It’s the perspective that allows us to be brave and explore. It’s the perspective that leads to our next venture, our dream job, a mango farm in India, or a yoga retreat in Costa Rica. It’s a perspective that ultimately heals us.
