Zabeen Hirji Joins JA Worldwide Board of Governors
August 22, 2023
Earlier this summer, the JA Worldwide Board of Governors approved two new board members. We sat down with global thought leader and former CHRO of Royal Bank of Canada Zabeen Hirji to find out more about her and to discuss why she has chosen JA Worldwide from among all the organizations she could support.
Zabeen’s Bio and Background
Zabeen is a strategic advisor to both the private and public sectors, a thought leader in Future of Work, leadership, culture, purpose, skills-based economy, and diversity, equity, and inclusion. Her senior leadership experience enables her to bring a practical perspective to her advisory work and as a speaker, writer, and media commentator. Now in her Purposeful Third Act, she is dedicated to creating impact by activating her purpose: "to unlock the potential of people and build inclusive prosperity."
Zabeen had a distinguished career at RBC (Royal Bank of Canada)—culminating as Chief Human Resources Officer until her retirement in 2017—where she oversaw 80,000 employees across 40 countries. She was a member of RBC's Group Executive Committee, which set the bank's strategic direction, and also held responsibility for brand, communications, and corporate citizenship where she chaired the RBC Foundation, the largest corporate foundation in Canada.
Currently, as Executive Advisor Future of Work at Deloitte, Zabeen advises clients on people and culture issues key to their transformation agendas and long-term success. She also serves as a Director on the board of Sleep Country Canada, a leading retailer, and as Senior Advisor to Knockri, an AI-enabled start-up that improves workforce diversity by reducing bias in the recruitment and promotion process.
Zabeen is Special Advisor on Public Service Renewal and EDI to the Clerk of the Privy Council for the government of Canada, and Co-Chair of the City of Toronto's Economic Development Advisory Panel. She is an Executive-in-Residence at Simon Fraser University's (SFU) Beedie School of Business and a visiting professor at the Public Policy Institute at King's College, London, UK. She is a member of the Advisory Council of University Canada's Global Skills Opportunity and the University of Toronto's Reach Alliance.
Active in the not-for-profit sector, Zabeen serves as a Director on the Public Policy Forum Board. She is the past Chair of CivicAction, whose mission is to build better, more inclusive cities and leadership and has been Co-Chair of the Toronto Region Immigrant Employment Council.
Zabeen has received numerous recognitions, including the Canadian HR Awards Ivey Business School Lifetime Achievement in HR Leadership, Governor General's Meritorious Service Medal for Diversity and Inclusion, SFU Outstanding Alumni Award, Catalyst Canada Honour for championing women and minorities in business, Top 25 Women of Influence, WXN Top 100 Most Powerful Women and induction into its Hall of Fame, and has been on Canadian Who’s Who list for 20 years. She holds an MBA from SFU and an ICD.D designation from the Institute of Corporate Directors.
A Conversation with Zabeen
JA Worldwide: Welcome, Zabeen, to the JA Worldwide Board. We’d love to know more about your first involvement with JA, and then what drew you to want to deepen your engagement with our organization.
Zabeen: As Chief Human Resources Officer at Royal Bank of Canada for ten years, where, in addition to responsibility for 80,000 employees in 40 countries, I oversaw corporate citizenship and social impact, my mission was to unlock the potential of people and help them thrive. Shortly before I retired from RBC, I led the process that declared youth education, employment, and entrepreneurship as the bank’s social impact priority, supported by a 10 year, $500 million commitment, now called Future Launch. The bank supported JA programs across the country and, as part of my role, I attended as well as spoke at events. I was so impressed by the multi-dimensional accomplishments of the high school students, their confidence, and the diversity of the “winning teams.” JA had instilled in them this powerful sense of self-belief.
I also recall wishing JA programs had been available to me when I immigrated to Canada as a teenager. Now, in my Purposeful Third Act following my corporate leadership career, I choose to do things that bring to life my purpose: to unlock the potential of people and build inclusive prosperity. So when I was invited to serve on the JA Worldwide Board, I said “yes!” in a nano-second. JA’s global vision for young people—to have the skillset and mindset to build thriving communities—is perfectly aligned to my purpose.
I’d like to add one more thing: I was born in Tanzania, am of Indian heritage, and am an Ismaili Muslim, which is another reason a global organization appeals to me. My late father was a successful entrepreneur. and he used that platform to make deep and broad impact in our community. In fact, he used to take me to work with him and teach me entrepreneurial and financial skills and encourage me to learn through hands-on experience. I even did the banking with him . . . a man ahead of his time! He instilled self-belief in me—and the importance of using your platforms and privilege for good—ideas that propel me even today. I think you can see how personal JA is to me.
JA Worldwide: What an inspiring introduction to JA! We’re so delighted that you said yes to when asked to serve JA globally. In addition, to what you’ve already shared, what unique, unusual, or timely perspectives, skills, or experiences, do you bring to the Board of Governors?
Zabeen: The obvious skills and perspectives come from my CHRO and Financial Services career, so let me talk about other experiences. As one of the world’s largest and most-impactful youth-serving NGOs, JA reaches more than 15 million young people each year, and it has the scale, experience, and passion to build a brighter future for the next generation of innovators, entrepreneurs, and leaders. I absolutely love JA’s big ambition to reach 100 million young people a year by 2050. I believe I can harness my skills, experiences, and social capital to provide oversight, insight, and foresight.
For example, as Executive Advisor, Future of Work at Deloitte, I am immersed in the skills agenda—that is, what skills employers are looking for and how to upskill and future-proof workers. I’m also a huge believer in private-public partnerships as a model for scalable and sustainable impact and see that firsthand as I create synergies across my portfolio of work with business, government, universities, not-for-profits, and civil society. One example is as the past Board Chair of CivicAction, a leading city-building organization, where we brought together established and emerging leaders to build more inclusive cities, based on a model of cross-sectoral collaboration.
JA Worldwide: And what do you hope to accomplish in your term as a JA Worldwide Governor?
Zabeen: Let me start with the incredible learning opportunity this has already been for me. I was invited to the last board meeting in Oslo, Norway, and engaging with the remarkable global board and leadership team, as well as local leaders and students, was a powerful, immersive learning experience.
As a passionate equity, diversity, and inclusion champion for over 25 years, I hope to help JA Worldwide bring its diversity commitment to life across the globe, recognizing it’s not a one-size-fits-all. JA Worldwide’s goal is to ensure that the JA network—including staff, teachers, business volunteers, and board members—is as diverse as its students and alumni.
I’m also getting up to speed on what’s happening with JA in my home country of Canada. I hope to get involved at the more grassroots level, using my local knowledge and social capital. One possible area is by helping to deepen engagement with students from equity deserving (underserved) groups.
Looking further out, as I learn more about JA’s work and ambitions in the Global South, I’d also like to make a contribution there, as that connects to my roots and heritage and is another way to bring to life my purpose: to unlock the potential of people and build inclusive prosperity.
JA Worldwide: Thank you, Zabeen. And welcome to the JA Worldwide Board of Governors!
Connect with Zabeen on LinkedIn, where she is recognized as a LinkedIn Top Voice, to learn more about her work.
Our two newest board members: Zabeen Hirji (left) and Fahd Jamaleddine (right) attend the JA Worldwide Board of Governors meeting in Oslo, Norway.