PLURALISM - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Manager, Peace and Conflict
Abbas collaborates on GCP's work in conflict and post-conflict contexts to support peace processes, conflict prevention and mediation. Before joining the GCP in 2023, he has worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross in the Middle East and North Africa for six years in analysis and coordination roles with a focus on non-state armed groups, patterns of violence and humanitarian negotiations. Prior to that, he has worked as a journalist and media trainer in his home country Afghanistan.
Abbas has a master's degree in anthropology from the Geneva Graduate Institute, and bachelor's in anthropology from National University of Mongolia. In his free time, he loves to cook and chat about global affairs and history.
Job Titles:
- Program Officer
- Program Officer, Global Analysis
Andrea supports the Global Analysis program's goal of promoting pro-pluralistic social transformation.
Prior to joining the Centre, Andrea worked collaboratively with survivors of sexual violence in conflict-affected areas, including Uganda and Colombia, advocating for their sexual and reproductive health rights. She has conducted trainings on knowledge mobilization, focusing on the use of open-source tools and database to support research projects. Andrea's commitment to working towards a world where everybody has a shared sense of belonging does not end with the Centre, through her volunteer work with advocacy organizations across Canada. She holds a MA in Public and International Affairs as well as a Diploma in Latin American and Caribbean Studies from York University. She is proudly trilingual, speaking English, Spanish and French. In her free time, Andrea enjoys going to third-wave coffee shops, reading classic novels, and crochet.
Job Titles:
- Special Advisor to the Provost
Azim Nanji is currently Special Advisor to the Provost, Aga Khan University. He has served most recently as Senior Associate Director of the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies at Stanford University, where he also lectured in the Department of Religious Studies. Previously he was Professor and Chair, Department of Religion, University of Florida (1989-1998), and Director of the Institute of Ismaili Studies, London (1998-2008). Born in Kenya, he is a graduate of Makerere University and obtained his Ph.D. from McGill University. He is the recipient of awards from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Canada Council, and the National Endowment for Humanities. Dr. Nanji has authored, co-authored and edited several books, including The Penguin Historical Dictionary of Islam (2008).
Carla finds joy in discovering and supporting organizations and individuals who are working towards building inclusive societies where differences are valued and respected.
Carla's professional experience includes strategic communications, project and event coordination, stakeholder engagement, and partnership development. Her previous international experiences have taken her to volunteer with grassroots organizations in Malawi fighting for women's and girls' rights, and to complete an internship with the UN Migration Regional Office for Central and North America and the Caribbean. She holds and undergraduate degree in International Development and Globalization from the University of Ottawa and a postgraduate diploma in Women and Global Public Policy from the University of Chile. In her free time, Carla enjoys dancing to the rhythm of Latin American music, discovering new cuisines, and travelling.
Eduardo Stein is former Vice President (2004-2008) and Foreign Minister (1996-2000) of the Republic of Guatemala. He has worked with various international organizations in development programs in Central America, as well as the Esquipulas peace process and in the San José Dialogue for Central American Peace negotiations. He headed the OAS Electoral Observation Mission in Peru in 2000 for Mr. Fujimori´s try for a third term, which resulted in the disqualification of the elections for serious irregularities. He presided over the Honduras Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2010-2011. Dr. Stein is an independent consultant, coordinates a Central American network of think tanks, la RED, and is a member of the Board of the Inter-American Dialogue and of the Global Leadership Foundation.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director, Business and Operations
Since April 2018, Farhan has been responsible for facilities management, operations, business management and long-term financial sustainability of the building through development of revenue generating programs.
Farhan is an accomplished professional with extensive experience in organizational leadership, program execution, supply chain management and facilities management. He has thorough understanding of supply chain, finance and HR principles complemented by exceptional organizational and interpersonal skills with a proven track record of coaching and developing cross-functional teams in rapidly changing contexts and accomplishing committed deliverables within budget and pressing deadlines. Farhan holds degrees in business administration and mechanical engineering with certifications in project management, purchasing management, Six Sigma, cultural competence and quality management systems auditing.
Huguette Labelle holds a Doctor of Philosophy, Education. She is a Companion of the Order of Canada, and has been awarded honorary degrees from 12 Canadian universities and the University of Notre Dame, as well as several additional honours. She served for a period of 19 years as Deputy Minister of various Government of Canada departments, including the Secretary of State, Transport Canada, the Public Service Commission, and the Canadian International Development Agency. She was Chancellor of the University of Ottawa from 1994 to 2011 and serves on many Boards. Huguette Labelle is currently Chair of the Board of Transparency International, a member of the Board of the UN Global Compact, a member of the Group of External Advisors on the World Bank Governance and Anti-Corruption Strategy, a member of the Advisory Group to the Asian Development Bank on Climate Change and Sustainable Development, a member of the Executive Board of the Africa Capacity Building Foundation, a member of the Board of the Global Centre for Pluralism, a member of the Advisory Council of the Order of Ontario, and Vice-Chair of the Senior Advisory Board of the International Anti-corruption Academy. She also serves on additional national and international boards. She provides advisory services to national and international organizations.
Iain T. Benson is a lawyer, writer, lecturer and consultant who publishes widely and consults internationally on constitutional law and human rights. He is Professor Extraordinary in the Department of Constitutional Law and Philosophy of Law, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa, and a fellow of several institutes in Canada, South Africa and the United States and was a visiting professor at the University of Western Ontario. His writing on the nature of the "secular" and "secularism" has been cited with approval by the Supreme Court of Canada and the Constitutional Court of South Africa. For several years he has been one of eight members of a Continuation Committee to create the South African Charter of Religious Rights and Freedoms. He holds degrees from Queen's, Cambridge and Windsor and a doctorate (law) from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of the Dalberg Group
James Irungu Mwangi is the Executive Director of the Dalberg Group, a collection of impact-driven businesses that seek to champion inclusive and sustainable models around the world. Mr. Mwangi leads integration and innovation across Dalberg's five core businesses, which together employ over 600 staff in 25 locations across the globe, including 11 countries in Africa. He launched Dalberg's presence in Africa in 2007, and previously served as Global Managing Partner of Dalberg Advisors from 2010 to 2014. He currently serves on the boards of Old Mutual, The Skoll Foundation and One Acre Fund. He holds an honors degree in Economics from Harvard University, was previously with McKinsey & Company, and is a Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellow (2009), a Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum (2013), and a member of the Young Presidents' Organization.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director, Programs and Partnerships
Jayne Barlow works with a committed and resourceful team to advance the Centre's global programs.
Prior to joining the Global Centre, Jayne held several positions within the Aga Khan Development Network, including with the University of Central Asia and Aga Khan Foundation in Canada and East Africa. Jayne has managed a wide range of portfolios supporting the AKDN's work in rural development, financial inclusion, and health and education systems strengthening in developing and conflict-affected countries in Africa and Asia. Before joining AKDN in 2002, Jayne worked for 7 years with non-profit organizations involved in education sector reform in the transitioning countries of the former-Soviet Union. Jayne has an MA in Soviet and East European Studies from Carleton University and is always looking for new ways to improve her Russian language skills.
Jessie manages the Award selection process and oversees engagement with Awardees.
Jessie's previous roles have taken her to Eastern and Southern Africa, Southeast Asia and the South Pacific. Her experience includes program design and management, partnership development and civic space research. She is passionate about supporting civil society actors working to build peaceful, inclusive societies. She holds a graduate degree in peace and conflict studies from the University of Waterloo and an undergraduate degree in international relations from the University of Toronto. More recently, she completed a certificate in conflict management and mediation through the University of Waterloo's Institute of Peace and Conflict Studies.
Kevin has a BA in International Relations from the University of Toronto and a Post-Graduate Diploma in International Development from Humber College. Kevin's trajectory includes work with LGBTQ2S+ communities in Canada, as well as positions as gender advisor and in monitoring and evaluation for several rights-based development projects across South America. He has conducted trainings on gender and sexual diversity and has collaborated in the creation of tools to track and improve attention to cases of gender-based violence in post-secondary institutions in Bolivia. During his spare time, Kevin enjoys reading, going on hikes, and daydreaming about future travels.
Job Titles:
- Chief Executive Officer of Aga Khan Foundation
Khalil Shariff is Chief Executive Officer of Aga Khan Foundation Canada (AKFC). Prior to joining AKFC in 2005, Mr. Shariff was a consultant with McKinsey & Company, where he advised governments, financial institutions, and health care providers on strategy, organization, and operational improvement. He served on AKFC's National Committee for five years. He is a graduate, J.D. magna cum laude, of the Harvard Law School, where he cultivated his interest in international development and conflict resolution issues as Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Harvard Negotiation Law Review, and Policy Coordinator and Research Associate, Harvard Program on Humanitarian Policy and Conflict Research.
Kim Ghattas is an Emmy-award winning journalist, analyst, and author with more than 20 years of experience covering the Middle East, international affairs, and US foreign policy for the BBC, the Financial Times and de Volkskrant. She is currently a contributing writer for The Atlantic magazine, a regular contributor to the Financial Times, and a 2023-2024 Inaugural Distinguished Fellow at Columbia University's Institute for Global Politics.
Ms. Ghattas is the author of The Secretary, the New York Times best-seller about US foreign policy and her travels around the world with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Her second book Black Wave, about the Saudi-Iran rivalry, was named a New York Times notable book in 2020 and has since become a reference for universities and diplomats. Ms. Ghattas is currently writing her third book, which revisits Lebanon's civil war as the origin story of the US-Iran clash in the Middle East.
As a leading voice on Middle Eastern affairs, Ms. Ghattas shares her expertise on risk and opportunities in regional and geopolitical trends with a variety of key players and institutions in the region and in the United States. She serves on the board of trustees of the American University of Beirut and was chair of the board of directors for the Arab Reporters for Investigative Journalism network from 2020 to 2023. She sits on the advisory council of the Atlas for Impunity. Ms. Ghattas is also a former nonresident senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (2017-2022), a former public policy fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars (2017) and a former Civitella Ranieri fellow (2019).
Kofi A. Annan served as the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. In 2001, Kofi Annan and the United Nations were jointly awarded the Nobel Prize for Peace with the citation praising his leadership for "bringing new life to the organization." As Secretary-General, Kofi Annan led a comprehensive program of reform aimed at revitalizing the UN and making the international system more effective. He was a constant advocate for human rights, the rule of law, the Millennium Development Goals and Africa, and sought to bring the organization closer to the global public by forging ties with civil society, the private sector and other partners. At his initiative, UN peacekeeping was strengthened in ways that enabled the UN to cope with a rapid rise in the number of operations and personnel. He played a central role in the creation of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the adoption of the UN's first-ever counter-terrorism strategy, and the acceptance by Member States of the "responsibility to protect" people from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. After leaving the UN, Mr. Annan continued to press for better policies to meet the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable, particularly in Africa, and used his experience to mediate and resolve conflict. Up until his death in 2018, Mr. Annan was the Chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation.
The Chair, Directors of the Board and staff of the Global Centre for Pluralism are deeply saddened at the death of Kofi Annan who, in addition to his many great contributions to humanity, was a leading member of the Centre's Board of Directors since its inception in 2010.
Job Titles:
- Manager, Communications and Public Affairs
Job Titles:
- Finance
- Officer
- Finance Officer at GCP
Manju Bhattarai is a Finance Officer at GCP with over 10 years of experience in business, customer service, finance, and accounting, including 5 years in the UK. She received her MBA from Tribhuvan University, Nepal, Master's degree in Management from the University of York, U.K., as well as a postgraduate diploma in Financial Management from the Netherlands. Manju has had the opportunity to volunteer with several organizations in Pakistan, USA, Thailand, Canada, and the UK.
Job Titles:
- Professor of Law and Chancellor 's Professor at Carleton University, Ottawa
Margaret Ogilvie is Professor of Law and Chancellor's Professor at Carleton University, Ottawa, and a member of the Bars of Ontario and Nova Scotia. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1993) and a recipient of the David W. Mundell Medal (1996) for legal scholarship, the Law Society Medal (2001) from the Law Society of Upper Canada, and holds two honorary doctorates in recognition of her contributions to the legal profession, both in Canada and abroad. She has been a visiting scholar at the Universities of Edinburgh, Emory, Oxford and Toronto, and twice at the Princeton Theological Seminary. She is the author of 14 books and over 200 law review articles on religious institutions law, banking law and contract law primarily. She has served on several boards in the not-for-profit sector in Canada. In 2008 she was invested into the Order of Ontario in recognition of her lifelong achievements as an educator and legal scholar. She was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2012.
Marty Natalegawa served as Foreign Minister of the Republic of Indonesia between 2009 and 2014. He also served as Permanent Representative of Indonesia to the UN in New York (2007-2009), coinciding with Indonesia's membership of the Security Council. He currently serves as a member of the United Nations Secretary-General's High Level Advisory Board on Mediation. He also serves as Asia Society Policy Institute Distinguished Fellow; as a member of the International Academic Advisory Board of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS-Washington, D.C.); International Crisis Group Board of Trustees; Global Advisory Committee of the Jeju Forum; UWA Public Policy Institute Advisory Board and is a Prominent Research Scholar of the Bank of Indonesia Institute of the Central Bank. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil.) degree from the Australian National University in 1993.
Marwan Muasher is vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Most recently, he was senior vice president of external affairs at the World Bank from 2007 to 2010. Previous to that, Muasher served as foreign minister (2002-2004) and deputy prime minister (2004-2005) of Jordan. In 1995, Muasher opened Jordan's first embassy in Israel, and in 1996 became minister of information and the government spokesperson. From 1997 to 2002, he served in Washington again as ambassador, negotiating the first free trade agreement between the United States and an Arab nation. He has authored two books, The Second Arab Awakening, published by Yale University Press in January 2014 and The Arab Center: The Promise of Moderation, also published by Yale University Press, June 2008. He served on the Global Centre for Pluralism's Board of Directors from 2015 to 2019, and has served on the American University of Beirut's Board of Trustees since 2007.
Meredith Preston McGhie has devoted more than 20 years to addressing conflict and instability in Africa and Asia in some of the most troubled situations. From working with the Naga in Northeast India and indigenous communities on the Thai-Myanmar border, to supporting UN efforts in Kosovo, Northern Iraq and several African countries, her work has straddled frontline negotiation, policy and diplomacy.
She became the Global Centre for Pluralism's Secretary General on October 1, 2019. Most recently, as Africa Regional Director with the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, she oversaw the HD Centre's complex mediation and dialogue efforts in Nigeria, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Sudan, Somalia and South Sudan, among other places. In the Kenyan National Dialogue and Reconciliation Process in 2007-08, she advised the Panel of Eminent African Personalities led by the late Kofi Annan. She has contributed annually to the Oslo Forum, a gathering of the world's leading experts and policymakers in conflict resolution, and teaches mediation practice internationally.
Ms. Preston McGhie studied military and international history at the University of British Columbia before pursuing graduate studies in global security at Keele University in the United Kingdom.
Job Titles:
- Senior Manager, Global Analysis
Michael earned a PhD from the University of Toronto in Political Science and his research work is largely focused on policy development, helping to inform policy reforms and interventions in diverse contexts on a variety of issues ranging from local security force development, to legislature strengthening, and public participation in policy processes. This research work includes support for legislative drafting, policy briefings at senior legislature and executive decision-making bodies, and support for civil society organizations engaged in social transformation initiatives. Much of Michael's work has been based overseas, working with governmental and non-governmental organizations in relatively peaceful contexts as well as areas of active conflict. In all his work, past and present, Michael strives to connect communities, their elected officials, and government officials to identify local solutions to local problems.
Job Titles:
- President & CEO of Indspire
Job Titles:
- Manager, Executive Office and Governance
- Support to the Secretary
Ms. Maria Desjardins provides support to the Secretary General, the Board of Directors, and the Members of the Corporation and has held this role since the very beginning of the Centre in 2011.
Ms. Desjardins brings to GCP more than 20 years of experience on the not-for-profit sector. Previously, she worked at the Canadian Council for International Co-operation (CCIC) in the same position. Ms. Desjardins travelled extensively and worked in different countries as Bolivia, Argentina, Peru, Morocco, and P.R. of China. Her international experience in different cultures and countries is an asset for her work at the Global Centre for Pluralism.
Job Titles:
- Senior Manager, Education
Nathalie leads the Global Centre for Pluralism's efforts to support educators and system leaders in making pluralism a lived experience in their specific contexts with a view to building inclusive societies resilient to fear and hate.
She spent over 20 years in K-12 public education, having worked with several French and some English school boards in Ontario in a variety of roles, including community worker, teacher, instructional coach, consultant, and system leader. Beyond her work in Canada, Nathalie has contributed to a variety of collaborative learning initiatives with K-12 teachers and other educational leaders internationally in contexts such as Haiti, Lebanon, France, Morocco, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. In each role, she placed the practical issues of advancing social justice and human flourishing at the centre of her work and learning. She intentionally developed her own critically-informed practice by weaving together her experiences and observations, insights offered from wide-ranging scholarly publications and research, and the grounded knowledge of people experiencing systemic injustices - beginning with her students, their families, and her colleagues.
As one of the first Senior Advisors for Equity, Human Rights and Pluralism in a French-language school board in Canada, Nathalie's contended daily with the systemic effects of the double minoritization of francophone students and staff from historically marginalized communities. Becoming a Brené Brown certified Dare to Lead facilitator has further equipped her to delve into the dynamics that either hinder or boost our ability to implement organizational change when seeking to create more equitable and pluralistic education systems. Her journey has also brought her to offer training and publish various resources on trauma-informed practice for educators and on educational leadership.
Job Titles:
- Program Officer, Education
Princess Zahra, the eldest child of His Highness the Aga Khan, heads the Social Welfare Department (SWD) located within the French Delegation of the Aga Khan Development Network. She has policy and management responsibility for the health, education, and planning and building services companies of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN). She also plays a key role in policy and strategy matters relating to the other social development institutions of the Network. She is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Aga Khan University and works with institutions supported by the Ismaili Muslim community in the areas of social welfare, women's activities and youth programs.
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Officer
- Member of the New Brunswick Law Society
- Senior Program Officer, Global Analysis
Rajvir Gill works to increase engagement in relation to the Global Pluralism Monitor.
Rajvir Gill is a lawyer and a member of the New Brunswick Law Society. Prior to the Global Centre for Pluralism, Rajvir worked for the New Brunswick Office of the Child, Youth and Senior Advocate in law and individual case advocacy. Rajvir has extensive experience in the not-for-profit sector in Canada, where she led projects addressing gender-based violence, legal education and human trafficking and was named as one of the top 20 under 20 by the Alberta Council for Global Cooperation for her work in 2013. Her international experience involves studying and working in various countries, including volunteering in the Philippines on projects combating child poverty and an internship with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime in Bangkok. Rajvir has a Bachelor of Commerce Cooperative Education Degree from the University of Alberta, a Masters of Political Science from Uppsala University in Sweden, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Calgary.
Job Titles:
- Senior Officer, Resource Development and Reporting
Rohinton P. Medhora is the former president of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) and a Professor of Practice at McGill University's Institute for the Study of International Development. Previously, he was vice president of programs at Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC).
Dr. Medhora served on The Lancet and Financial Times Commission on Governing Health Futures 2030 and is a member of the Commission on Global Economic Transformation. He is the chair of the Board of the Institute for New Economic Thinking, vice-chair at the McLuhan Foundation, Board member of Partnership for Economic Policy and is on the advisory boards of the WTO Chairs Programme, UNU-MERIT and Global Health Centre at the Graduate Institute in Geneva.
He received his doctorate in economics from the University of Toronto, where he subsequently taught. He earned his B.A. and M.A. at the University of Toronto, where he majored in economics.
Rudyard Griffiths is a social entrepreneur, author and television broadcaster. He has edited 13 collections of essays on Canadian and international political and historical themes and is the author of Who Are We: A Citizen's Manifesto (2009). He has been a columnist with the National Post and the Toronto Star and television anchor with CTV News Channel and the Business News Network. Rudyard Griffiths is also the moderator and organizer of the semi-annual Munk Debates. Recent Munk Debates participants include Tony Blair, Henry Kissinger, Christopher Hitchens, Fareed Zakaria, Paul Krugman and Lawrence Summers. Rudyard Griffiths is the President of the Peter and Melanie Munk Charitable Foundation and its sister public policy foundation, Aurea. In 2006, Rudyard Griffiths was recognized by the Globe and Mail as one of Canada's Top 40 under 40.
Job Titles:
- Director of the Katiba Institute in Nairobi
Yash Pal Ghai is the Director of the Katiba Institute in Nairobi. Formerly he was the head of the UNDP Constitution Advisory Support Unit in Nepal, and the UN Secretary-General's Special Representative for Human Rights in Cambodia. Mr. Ghai has had an international academic career as a professor of law and as a constitutional expert, beginning with the establishment of East Africa's first law school in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. In 1989, he was appointed Professor of Public Law at the University of Hong Kong. He has advised in over twenty countries on constitution making and other issues, including Iraq, Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea, Nepal, Fiji, Somalia, Libya, and Kenya (where he chaired the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission (CKRC) from 2002-2004, as well as the National Constitutional Conference ("Bomas"). His research interests include constitutionalism and human rights, ethnic conflicts, sociology of law, and federalism and autonomy. He has published extensively on public law, human rights, and ethnic conflicts. In 2011 Professor Ghai established the Katiba Institute to promote knowledge and studies of constitutionalism and to facilitate the implementation of Kenya's new constitution. Its activities include publications on the Constitution, workshops on constitutional issues, public interest litigation, development of the legal and judicial system, establishment of county governments, land reform, review of legislative bills to implement the Constitution, and promoting the participation of Kenyans in public affairs. It works in partnership with a number of Kenyan and overseas civil, academic, and state institutions.