In partnership with James Stauch, Mirle is the co-director of the Work Group IV: An international perspective on grantmaking foundations, divergence and collaboration. With the other members, she is preparing a complete critical examination of grantmaking foundations in other developed countries with the objective of understanding the current practices and challenges in Canada in comparison with international trends.

Mirle is an architect and urban planner. She is a member of  the Urban Studies and Planning Program faculty at the University of California San Diego and has been for the past seventeen years. Her main area of research is global community development in low-income neighborhoods. Her recent projects include a published book called: Catalysts for Change: 21st Century Philanthropy and Community Development (co-authored with Maria Martinez-Cosio). Her research is on San Diego’s informal economy and on asset-mapping in underserved multiethnic urban neighborhoods.