Thank you to everyone who came out in October. The office is open every week (below), and more free events are on the way - we'll announce them right here.
Tap for sound
Ten seconds from the night
This is what a full house sounds like
A free World Cup Final on the big screen at Cineplex Milton - after a free morning screening of The Odyssey down the hall. No tickets sold, no sponsors, nothing to sign up for: just Milton, together, on a Sunday afternoon.
Hundreds
of neighbours came out
Two
screenings, one Sunday
Zero
cost to walk in
The room we filled
World Cup Final at Cineplex Milton
July 19, 2026 - a free double-header for Milton: The Odyssey in the morning, the World Cup Final on the big screen in the afternoon.
This is what showing up looks like
Canada Day in Milton
July 1, 2026 - serving ice cream, signing up neighbours, and meeting Milton where it celebrates.
“What are you gonna do about it? What are we going to do about it?”
Ms. Pauline asked Zainab that question on a Montessori playground right here in Milton, after listening to a student complain about problems that felt too big to fix. She has spent her life trying to answer it ever since.
Milton is where Zainab grew up and was raised by her grandmother - a fellow educator - in a town where neighbours dropped pulao and pineapple cake at the door because it takes a village. She first learned the power of organizing at her Montessori school, and the power of a team on Milton United's soccer pitch - where her coach taught her that the best players don't just see where the ball is now. They see where it's going and work with their team to get it there. In 2022, the town named her Milton Citizen of the Year - and later its youngest-ever Official Bellringer.
Like so many of us, she spent much of her time at the GO station - watching the town empty every morning, believing that to change anything you had to leave. That the power to change the world lived somewhere else. So she went looking for it. In academia, as a researcher in developmental neuroscience. In government, working in the offices of Canada's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, where federal budgets are shaped. In diplomacy, as the youngest ambassador and mentor in the United Nations Space4Women program. In philanthropy, with nonprofits including the Urban Alliance on Race Relations and the National Education Policy Centre. At Harvard, where she earned her Master of Education and now teaches policy analysis, economics, and the practice of organizing people-powered movements as a Teaching Fellow. And most recently in New York, organizing on the Zohran Mamdani mayoral campaign - where she watched everyday people win a city of eight million, one door and neighbour at a time.
What she learned?
“Power is not in some person, position or some place. Power is in our people. And hope is at home.”
We are not running to be something. We are running to do something - with you.
Citizen of the Year, the Town's youngest-ever Official Bellringer, and the Northern Lights Rising Star Award.
Watch Zainab
Why she's running
What are YOU going to do about it?
Now we are asking you, “What are WE going to do about it?”
September 28
The Milton way
Shoutout from the journalist who I used to stay up watching on the Agenda through my school years
Thanks Steve and John - I agree, we can do politics the Milton way, doesn’t have to be the Mississauga way!
October 19
A better way to do politics
Less tearing each other down. More building our town up, together.
We may disagree. But at the end of the day, we all want what’s best for Milton. Let’s show people there’s a better way to do politics.
September 16
The Record
A Track Record Few Can Match
From a Milton pitch to the edge of space.
Harvard, the United Nations, and Virgin Galactic - the proof behind the promise.
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Education
Harvard M.Ed & Teaching Fellow
Master of Education from Harvard, where she teaches policy, economics, and organizing as a Teaching Fellow. Centre for International Development.
Harvard / CID
0202
Organizing
Zohran Mamdani Mayoral Campaign, NYC
Organizer and researcher on the people-powered campaign that won New York.
New York City
0303
Government
Office of Canada's Deputy PM & Minister of Finance
Policy experience at the federal level. Recognized in the House of Commons.
House of Commons
0404
United Nations
United Nations Ambassador & Mentor
Chosen as the youngest mentor with the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) Space4Women program, promoting women and girls in STEM.
UNOOSA / Space4Women
0505
Nonprofit
Co-founder, GIVE
The Global Initiative and Vision for Education - equal access to quality education, especially STEM, for women and girls worldwide.
STEM / Worldwide
0606
Author
Author & Researcher
Three books on education; a fourth on people-based politics forthcoming from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Harvard Kennedy School
0707
Honour
Milton Citizen of the Year
Named 2022 Citizen of the Year, and chosen as the Town's youngest-ever Official Bellringer.
Milton / 2022
0808
In Milton
Learn to Lead & Meet Milton
Founder of Learn to Lead, free leadership workshops rooted in Harvard pedagogy, and Meet Milton, a storytelling project spotlighting local leaders and businesses.
Founder / Homegrown
In Milton
Meet Milton · Learn to Lead · Milton Transitional Housing (Coldest Night of the Year) · Milton District Hospital Foundation · Milton Citizen of the Year 2022 · Family contribution to the Milton Hospital and Arts Centre Development
Hope starts right here - built at home, with our neighbours, in our town.
Zainab Azim
Saving you Time for what matters
It's about for
Our platform is about time.
Watch - Careers, Transit, Alive
Live, work, play, and dream
This is our collective vision for a Milton we can all live, work, play, and dream in together - built by all of you in living rooms, doorsteps, kitchen tables and in transit!
So your next opportunity is down the street, not down the 401.
Careers Close to Home
We have the talent. We have the people. We have the potential.
We need more jobs and businesses, not just houses and warehouses.
It’s time to turn a place of possibility into reality with Careers Close to Home.
October 6
Careers Close to Home
Welcome to the Milton Innovation Challenge!
Drop your ideas in the comments or tag us in a reel
October 1
2
Transit
Every Twenty
So you have more time for what matters most.
Buses Every 20 Minutes
Get Around Town in 20 Minutes
All-Day GO & University Shuttles
A bus you can trust, every 20 minutes - so transit becomes something you can build a life around.
Transit Every Twenty
I spent 10 years doing the three hour commute to and from Toronto, everyday. The GO service is still the same.
We will make this a priority to connect our communities, so folks can get back home while also supporting local tourism in Milton.
Milton deserves someone who has experienced what over 50% of Miltonians experience everyday, and will fight to make it better.
October 21
Transit Every Twenty
Time in traffic is time (and gas money) you could be spending on the things that matter most.
We can’t widen the roads much further. The only way to handle traffic and road safety is reliable, frequent, accessible transit.
Vote on Oct 26th for Transit Every Twenty minutes.
October 22
Transit Every Twenty
All Miltonians should be able to get where they need to go and back home with dignity.
Brian’s story is sadly not unique. We’ve heard it from people across generations and communities.
That’s why we need Transit Every Twenty minutes - it’s not a luxury, it’s a necessity.
October 21
Transit Every Twenty
Did you know 30% of Milton Transit buses don’t show up on time?
That’s not a transit system residents should have to plan their lives around.
Milton deserves transit you can trust.
September 14
3
Alive
After Five
So you don't have to leave to live a life.
Milton Central: Entertainment Square
Affordable Activities for All
More Parks & Community Spaces
A town to live in, not just sleep in.
Alive After Five
It’s after 5, so we wanted to show you what Alive After Five looks like!
It does not mean chaos - we love the peacefulness in town. What it does mean is more opportunities to experience joy and celebrate the moments that matter together in this town, with our neighbours, building bridges across backgrounds.
October 8
Alive After Five
July 19 Rally x World Cup Watch Party in Milton Recap!
July 20
Alive After Five
Spreading some joy at our campaign rally x FIFA final watch party.
This is what Alive After Five feels and looks like - turning a place of possibility into reality!
July 19
Alive After Five
Just visited the @miltonlionscc cricket club, ended up playing soccer
It’s a universal language, across borders and generations.
June 15
Safety andSnow Removal
Clear streets & sidewalks sooner
AI Data Centres
My position on AI data centres in Milton is no - not now, and not without rules Milton controls. While Canada should build its own computing capacity and data sovereignty without depending on the US, my focus is on what is in the best interest of those who call Milton home - for their families, their health, bills, investment and opportunities that build our town. My position is not based on fear as someone who has written a book published by Springer on AI and Education, please see the following facts and reasoning:
Campaign updates, free community events, and election-day reminders. A few emails a month, no noise.
MILTON
Join Us
What can WE do about it?
We're asking for your voice, your values, your vision. Not just your vote.
Politicians promise that if you elect them, they'll fix everything themselves. That's not true - and you've seen it. Real change takes an organized community that keeps showing up before, during, and after election day. Hope is not something we feel. It's something we build - with our time, our two feet, our tongues, and the many languages we speak.
This is a people-powered campaign - built by and with neighbours. Add your name to volunteer, host a meeting, share whatever gifts you have or just stay in the loop.
Doorknocking, phone banking, event setup, general volunteering - a few hours whenever you have them. Face to face conversations with neighbours are how this campaign moves.
Your voice and expertise
Share what you know about this town - transit, housing, schools, small business. The experts on Milton are the people who live here.
Your language
Milton speaks dozens of languages. Translate materials, interpret at the doors, welcome neighbours in their own words.
Your skills
Artists at events, small businesses, cooking, photos, design - whatever you're good at, this campaign has a place for it.
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Tell us how you can help
Whatever your gift - your time, your language, your cooking, your camera, your Saturday afternoon - we need it.
29%
voter turnout in Milton's last municipal election. We can do better - together.
Knock doors, make calls, translate, create. Every canvass includes training - you'll leave with a new skill, a new relationship, and a clearer sense of purpose. New Volunteer Meetings run biweekly on Sundays. There's usually biryani.
Some people have time, some have ideas, some have a few dollars to spare. Every dollar stays in Milton - print, signs, and gas for volunteers who knock doors.
for