Zabeen Hirji  Zabeen Hirji (born 1960) was Chief Human Resources Officer and a member of the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) Group Executive in Toronto from 2007 - 2017. A native of Tanzania, she immigrated to Vancouver, Canada, in 1974 and joined the RBC as a teller in 1977, advancing through various departments until acceding to her current position in 2007. She is a prominent advocate and spokesperson for diversity and inclusion in Canadian business, and has received numerous awards for championing the advancement of women and minorities. She was listed in the 2001 edition of "Who's Who in Canadian Business" and the 2009 edition of "Canadian Who's Who". Zabeen Hirji was born in Tanzania to parents of Indian and other South Asian origin. Her father died in an automobile accident; she and her mother immigrated to Vancouver, Canada, when she was 14. She earned her MBA at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia, in 1994, submitting the thesis, "A Strategic Analysis of a Toronto Family Medicine Practice". In 1997 she completed the Advanced Human Resources Executive Program at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan. She began working for the Royal Bank of Canada as a teller while attending university part-time in 1977. Over the next two decades, she advanced in positions in retail banking, training, operations, credit card operations, and human resources. From 1994 to 1997 she was the Regional Manager of Card Services for Central Canada. In 1997 she was appointed Vice President of Human Resources, and in 2001, Senior Vice President. In 2007 she was promoted to Executive Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, giving her global responsibility for human resources operations and strategies for nearly 79,000 employees in 50 countries. Together with senior management, she conceives and develops strategic initiatives to increase diversity and inclusion in hiring and talent management. She is also in charge of brand, communications, and corporate citizenship. She is a member of the bank's Group Executive, and one of ten executives who determine the RBC's "overall strategy direction". Hirji is an advocate and spokesperson for diversity and inclusion in Canadian business. In 2001 she co-led the founding of the RBC's Diversity Leadership Council, a global initiative that brings together senior business executives from many fields. Among the strategic initiatives Hirji has introduced at the RBC are a Diversity Dialogues Reciprocal Mentoring Program, which pairs senior managers with junior employees from minority backgrounds for mutual encouragement, and "hidden bias" training. According to Hirji, the RBC "actively targets recent immigrants, women entrepreneurs, Canadian Aboriginals, the gay and lesbian community and people with disabilities".