canela 01
Learning design & development.
Capability building that meets people where they are and strengthens practice where it matters.
View learning work Learning, methodology and social impact design
We translate complex systems into human outcomes.
Canela is a learning and methodology studio working at the intersection of policy, practice and lived experience to build capabilities, programs and systems that people can actually use.
What we do
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Trauma-informed practice.
Programs, resources and reflective methods that strengthen safety, wellbeing and cultural responsiveness.
Explore services 03
Cultural & context methodology.
Methods that centre lived experience and cultural knowledge in design, research and evaluation.
Read field notes Workforce Learning & DevelopmentTrauma-Informed PracticeCurriculum DevelopmentFacilitation & WorkshopsCommunity-Centred LearningCulturally Responsive DesignWorkforce Learning & DevelopmentTrauma-Informed PracticeCurriculum DevelopmentFacilitation & WorkshopsCommunity-Centred LearningCulturally Responsive Design
Work
Selected projects with real learning architecture behind them.
The work is the proof: eLearning suites, onboarding pathways, facilitation kits, case studies and decision tools designed for social sector teams. Learning design that reaches the people your sector has not reached yet.
01 Family Violence Sector · NGO
01Seven modules. Every learner. No one left behind.
A frontline family violence organisation needed eLearning that could reach workers across diverse cultural backgrounds, varied English literacy levels and different devices.
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02 Homelessness org · Homelessness Sector
02Building a learning system from the inside out.
A hybrid learning ecosystem that connected online modules, face-to-face training, LMS migration and internal capability building.
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03 Bridgeway · Disability Services
03A program, not a module.
A five-module inclusive practice suite built on Bloom’s Taxonomy and Kirkpatrick evaluation so workers could apply principles in real casework.
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05 Rooted Ground NGO · Community Wellbeing
05From a two-day PDF induction to a 90-day journey.
A staged onboarding pathway that shifted induction from a document dump into Welcome, Context, Capability and Integration.
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07 Safeguarding · Social Sector
07Every branch has a consequence.
A referral decision-tree scenario where workers practise judgement under pressure instead of answering a flat multiple-choice quiz.
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18 Facilitation · Social Sector Teams
18A kit, not a workshop.
A co-design workshop bundle with slide deck, participant workbook and facilitator guide, structured around trauma-aware delivery.
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N CALD family violence survivors · Product case study
NNara: a private notes app as a safety tool.
A design case study showing how a private notes app became a discreet safety and service-navigation tool for CALD survivors in Victoria.
View case study Method
How Canela works
Every project starts with context and ends with tools people can use without us in the room.
01 Listen deeply
Begin with people, context, constraints and what the organisation already knows.
02 Translate complexity
Turn policy, practice and lived experience into a structure teams can work with.
03 Design learning
Create curriculum, workshops and resources with clear learning architecture.
04 Test with real people
Prototype language, sequence and activities with the people who will use them.
05 Build capability
Support facilitators, leaders and practitioners to carry the work confidently.
06 Leave usable tools
Deliver guides, methods and evaluation tools that keep working after the project ends.
Services
Clear pathways for capability, practice and learning.
Transparent starting points, scoped properly for your context. Use these pathways to find the right entry point, then we shape the brief around what your team actually needs.
Learning design Curriculum & learning development
Structured learning experiences, modules and resources that translate complex practice into clear, usable capability.
Enquire about learning design Facilitation Workshops & reflective practice
Purposeful workshops, learning circles and facilitated sessions that help teams make sense of complexity together.
Enquire about facilitation Practice capability Train-the-trainer programs
Frameworks, facilitator guides and capability pathways that help internal teams sustain learning beyond one session.
Enquire about train-the-trainer Co-design Community-centred learning
Participatory design methods that centre lived experience, cultural knowledge and the realities of community work.
Enquire about co-design Methodology Systems thinking & learning strategy
Learning strategies, practice models and methodology maps that connect workforce capability to organisational purpose.
Enquire about strategy Evaluation Learning evaluation & sensemaking
Evaluation tools and reflective methods that help teams understand what changed, what did not and what to do next.
Enquire about evaluation From the field
Insights from practice, not just theory.
Field notes are where Canela documents what becomes visible in workshops, co-design rooms, training rollouts and community-centred research. They are observations about learning, power, culture and implementation.
Talk through a learning challenge
Essay Who speaks when the machine speaks? On feminism, automation and the social sector. 22 min read. 
Essay A feminist lens on artificial intelligence Power, governance and responsible adoption in the social sector. 
Essay What I actually learned about AI fluency The 4D framework, a cultural critique, and where to begin. 
Practice What culturally safe learning looks like in practice Notes on environment, language, pacing and repair. 
Reflection Why co-design is not a workshop, it is a relationship Methods for trust, consent and shared authorship. 
Field notes Listening first: what teams already know before the curriculum arrives. Observations from practice-facing learning work. 
Learning design Learning design that reaches the people your sector has not reached yet Designing for access, trust and practical use. 
About
Design with purpose, warmth and intelligence.
Clarity is the most generous thing you can give someone.
I'm a learning designer, trainer and visual communicator with over 8 years of experience across the social sector. I founded Canela after years of seeing how powerful clear, beautiful design can be, and how rarely organisations doing important work have access to it.
My work is shaped by deep experience with multicultural communities, trauma-informed practice and the belief that complex ideas deserve human communication. Based in Melbourne, I work with NGOs, nonprofits and public sector teams across Australia and beyond.
Contact
Let's build something meaningful together.
Whether you have a clear brief or just an idea, tell us what you are working on. We work with organisations across Victoria, Australia and beyond.
saidafakih@canelastudio.com.au
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Available for remote projects worldwide
Thank you. Saida will be in touch within 1-2 business days.
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