Arezoo Najibzadeh – Women Deliver

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2020

Arezoo Najibzadeh

  • Age: 28
  •    |   She/her/hers

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To achieve gender justice, our movements must centre the voices of marginalized women and transgender people, especially those living at the intersection of multiple systems of oppression. We must centre the margins to develop anti-oppressive social and economic systems that centre solidarity, accountability, and collective power.

- Arezoo Najibzadeh

Bio

Arezoo Najibzadeh is a transformational leader within the gender justice movement in Canada. She is currently the Manager of Canadian Programs at Oxfam in what is currently known as Canada, where she is investing in feminist movement building public education nationally. As Founder of Platform, a nonprofit organization building leadership capacity among Black, Indigenous, and racialized young women and gender-diverse youth, Arezoo has engaged 2000+ young leaders in civic and social justice education since 2017. At the centre of Arezoo’s career is her ongoing fight against gender-based violence against women in civic leadership, which has received the attention of civic institutions such as the Parliament of Canada and the World Forum for Democracy at the Council of Europe.


Arezoo’s work continues to be guided by intersectionality, coined by Kimberlé Crenshaw, and transformational feminist leadership, which aims challenge and change oppressive structures, institutions, and cultures that disproportionately impact marginalized women transgender people globally.

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What ignited your pursuit for gender equality?

A lack of adequate and meaningful representation of diverse communities, especially marginalized women, in decision making drives my pursuit for gender-equality.

Please share your biggest wins as an advocate for gender equality.

A watershed moment in my career came in 2018 when I established It’s Time, a set of survivor-centric, trauma-informed resources for addressing sexual violence in political institutions. This project has provided training to more than 100 politicians, political staff, and volunteers on creating consent culture within campaigns and in legislatures.

Outside of your gender equality advocacy work, what do you enjoy doing?

In my free time, I visit art galleries and museums or share a cup of tea with friends.

Languages Spoken:

  • English (Advanced/Native)
  • Farsi (Advanced/Native)
  • Portuguese (Professional Working Proficiency)
  • Danish (Elementary)
  • French (Elementary)

Publications:

Speaks On:

  • GBV against women in civic leadership
  • SRHR and women's leadership
  • Feminist leadership for systemic change
  • intersectional and feminist leadership
  • Women’s civic participation

Past Awards, Certifications, or Fellowships:

  • YWCA Toronto Young Woman of Distinction (2020-2021)
  • DiverseCity Onboard Training
  • Agents of Change: SDGs by Centre for Social Innovation
  • Fellow at Muslim Youth Fellowship
  • Women Who Inspire AwardWomen Who Inspire Award by Canadian Council of Muslim Women
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