Sholeh Khalili (Dolatabadi) has immigrated to Toronto,Canada with her husband and two daughters since 1991. With her relocation Sholeh brought a wealth of knowledge, training and over seventeen years experience in early childhood education.
Academically, Sholeh holds a BA in Sociology from the National University of Iran, as well as an Early Childhood Education Diploma from the Canadian Mothercraft Society.
She is the co author of a series of books for kindergarten children entitled “Gamhaye Nakhostin” meaning “first steps” covering material on phonics, sound and picture association. Her books are still widely used across Kindergartens in Iran and have been reprinted in over 25 editions since their first publication.
In a professional setting since her arrival in Toronto, Sholeh continued her work in early childhood education initially as an early childhood educator within the YMCA from 1994-2003, followed by the position as one of the directors for the YMCA Scarborough region from 2003 to 2009. Since 2009 Sholeh has held the role of Senior Director, YMCA Greater Toronto Child Care Centre adding to a total of over twenty four years of contribution and service to the YMCA.
Additionally and within the YMCA, Sholeh organised the “Peace March” for a number of years and served as a member of the “Peace Medallion Ceremony Committee” for many years. Sholeh had also been the Co-Chair of the YMCA Strong Kids Campaign.
As well as her professional contribution within the YMCA in her field of expertise, Sholeh has been equally active in her Iranian community service work on many levels including organising fundraising events of “Mahak” an organisation for helping children diagnosed with cancer in Iran. Additionally, Sholeh is an enthusiastic contributor to “Karnameh” – an Intellectual Centre for teaching performing arts to adults.
Sholeh has also been a regular contributor to the Iranian newspapers.
Above all, Sholeh is an advocate of basic human rights and justice for all.
Mohsen is a young student activist. Beside his active involvement as a volunteer and board member in the ICC for the past 3 years he has been active in the Iranian Students' Association at York University (ISAYU) and currently sits on the executive board of the association. Mohsen is also the co-founder of Human Capital of Iran, a student run group that aims to raise awareness about the contributions of the Iranian diaspora. One of the projects of the Human Capital of Iran was a short documentary called "Iranians Non-Grata" that uncovers the personal stories of prominent Iranian students who have been affected by President Trump's Executive Order known as the Muslim Ban or the Travel Ban. Mohsen studies Finance at York University.
I would like to nominate myself for member of the ICC Board of Directors. With many years of professional experience and community leadership skills, both from Iran and here in Canada, I believe that I have the ability to fulfill my duties as an ICC director. My goal is to foster ICC development for improving unity of Iranian-Canadians, and to make ICC resourceful in facilitating the integration of our community in Canadian society.
Since I joined the ICC at the end of 2015, I have enthusiastically engaged with many ICC activities. I have supported planning and organizing several successful events to progress the ICC’s development.
My education includes a Doctorate degree in veterinary medicine from University of Ahwaz and University of Tehran. In Iran, I worked as an academic lecturer and the university Vice President of Research for more than eight years. Also, as a veterinary practitioner, I have successfully operated my own clinic.
In 2001, I immigrated to Canada with my wife and two daughters and began a new chapter of my life. Since then, I have pursued my professional career in several public and private organizations including Canadian Food Inspection Agency, University of Ottawa, and a Public Animal Health Laboratory. Additionally, as a professional interpreter, I have served the Iranian and Afghani communities in Ottawa. Due to personal interest, I completed a flight training program (PPL) at the Ottawa airport. In 2009, I moved to Guelph with my family to study a Masters program in Food Safety at the University of Guelph. While studying, I worked as an instructor and researcher. After the completion of my studies, I have worked for the Ministry of Agriculture, and food manufacturing companies in Ontario. Also, I continue to work as a professional interpreter in Guelph and cities in the GTA and southern Ontario. Furthermore, I have been employed as an Election Officer for several Provincial and Federal elections both in Ottawa and Guelph.
My name is Pouyan Tabasinejad and I hold a Master of Arts Degree in History and another in Immigration Studies and I am currently pursuing my PhD at the Schulich School of Business at York. I ran for Federal Parliament in 2015 in the riding of Willowdale.
I have served as the Policy Chair of the Iranian Canadian Congress for the past two years. As Policy Chair, I led the policy committee to launch a number of campaigns, including for the re-establishment of diplomatic ties between Iran and Canada, combatting banking discrimination against Iranian-Canadians, and advocating for foreign trained immigrant professionals. I also mobilized the policy committee to delay the Iran sanctions bill, Bill S-219, a bill which I and my colleague Bijan Ahmadi spoke against in the Senate of Canada. In my capacity as Policy Chair, I have also presented before the Senate Foreign Affairs and International Trade Committee and the House of Commons Committee on Canadian Heritage.
My name is Saman Tabasinejad. I have a Bachelors of Arts in both political science and anthropology from Carleton University and recently completed my Masters research in Anthropology at McGill University, where my research focused on middle-class Tehrani women and dress. For the past two years I have been on the executive of Roofs for Refugees, an organization that pairs newly arrived refugees with homes with reasonable rents. In the past, I have worked with immigrant communities in an organizing capacity as well as teaching English. I have also served as a policy associate for the Iranian Canadian Congress since January.
I am a Software Quality Assurance Analyst. I have a BSc degree in Mathematics – Operational Research from Tehran University. I immigrated to Canada in 1998. I am married and have two children.
I have always been involved in social and cultural activities in the Iranian Canadian community. I have been involved with fundraising for Soheil Parsa’s Modern Times Stage theatre company since 2010. I have been a Trustee member with Tirgan since its inception in 2006/7. I actively helped in the founding of the Iranian Association at the University of Toronto and was involved with the organization’s cultural committee in 2005-6. I have worked as a volunteer with the Nowruz festival organized by Mr. Kamal Taravati in the past two years.
In addition to the above, I have been involved in several other social, cultural and fundraising activities in the Iranian Canadian community since I immigrated to Canada.
I first became a member of the Iranian Canadian Congress in 2009. I became more involved with ICC in 2012 and in particular in the past 2-3 years. I have been a member of ICC for much of the past few years, with the exception of some periods when my membership expired. I am ready to build on my background and experience to help ICC become a unifying force in the Iranian Canadian community.
- Membership registration/renewal on March 26, 2018.
My name is Bob A.Tafreshi, I've landed in Canada in April 2004. My goal is to work towards building a united and stronger Iranian-Canadian community. I graduated from Karadj university and carry Bachelors degree in Engineering. I am a Master Electrician since 2011. I'm sure my extended 25 years of experience (More than 15 years experience in management, leadership and coordination) can help me in successfully contributing to the ICC as a board member. In my professional life I have worked as a product manager, project manager, plant manager, vice president and president of organizations in different fields both in Iran and in Canada. Also I'm completely familiar with volunteer work. I was part of the Board of Directors of the Mansion of Avondale in Willowdale community from 2015-2017.
I am ready to use my knowledge and experience in the ICC Board to work towards my objective of building a strong and united community.
- Membership registration/renewal on Feb 24, 2018.
I am a Chemical Engineer by profession and studied Polymer Engineering in Tehran Polytechnic. I hold a master of Polymer Engineering from Azad University. I also studied Management and have the certificate to teach management courses from FIDIC (Switzerland).
I am a serial entrepreneur and have vast experience in Manufacturing Industry, Consulting and International trading as well as conducting management courses in Iranian Society of Consulting Engineers. I have been active in non-profit organizations. I was an active member of the board of Young professional forum of ISCE (from 2004 to 2010), and have been a member of the board of IC Network for 4 years.
I moved to Canada in 2010 and now work with GreenFlow Financial.
I believe that my experience and expertise can bring great value to the board of ICC.
- Membership registration/renewal on March 29, 2018.
The following member has submitted his nomination. However, he does not meet the Canadian Citizenship requirement set out in the ICC bylaws (Article 5.2.I). Consistent with the practice of the ICC in previous board elections, members will be asked at the AGM whether they accept to provide exemption to the following individual regarding his nomination eligibility (Exemption from Article 5.2.I).
Younes Zangiabadi is a graduate of political science from York University. He is currently a business development representative at FormAssembly where he works with governments, municipalities, nonprofit organizations, and the United Nations in areas of data governance and streamlining internal processes. He is originally from Iran but left the country at the age of 17 to further his education in the West. As a student activist, Younes produced a short documentary called "Iranians Non-Grata" that uncovers the personal stories of prominent Iranian students who have been affected by the President Trump's Executive Order known as the Travel Ban. Younes previously worked for the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) where he was involved in various joint UN-Government projects mainly about Emergency Response Preparedness, Disaster Management, and Passive Defense in Iran. Younes is also passionate about Iran's domestic and foreign affairs and he occasionally writes about different subjects regarding Iran on Huffington Post from a young Iranian perspective.
Note: Sorena Zahiri withdrew his nomination on April 20th, 2018.