Farouk Shamas Jiwa

Farouk's global perspective has been deeply influenced by his family's diverse history and background, his extensive travel, and from having lived over half his in Africa. After finishing high-school in Kenya, Farouk pursued further education at McGill, Cambridge, and Harvard universities, where he received his B.Sc., M.Phil., and M.S., respectively.  

Over the last several years, Farouk has worked across the non-profit, academic, and public sectors in organizations such as the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF), Harvard University, and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).  Currently, he is working as a Consultant at the International Development Research Centre (IDRC).

Farouk has been actively involved in his community in Ottawa as a Board member for World Inter-Action Modiale, and as a competitive runner in half-marathon and 10km races, which he has used to raise money for a number of national and local charities.  In 2007, Farouk returned to Tanzania to climb Mount Kilimanjaro for a grass-roots organization supporting the education of orphans, disadvantaged children, and women.

Farouk's passion in international issues comes from his profound desire to address issues of marginalization, equity, and social justice. His dedication, leadership and entrepreneurship in international issues have been recognized through a number of awards such as the Celanese Canada Internationalist Fellowship and the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy's Canada-Meets-Germany Forum for Young Leaders.  In 2006, Farouk was a recipient of the inaugural Global Youth Fellowship of the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation, an accolade reserved for Canada's "best and brightest" young and emerging leaders "...who demonstrate the potential to enhance Canada's role on the world stage."  Farouk used his Global Youth Fellowship opportunity to examine Canada's use of multiculturalism/diversity in informing foreign policy and to investigate whether the pluralism of identity offers more.