Zabeen Hirji

Zabeen Hirji (born 1960)

Early life and education Zabeen Hirji was born in Tanzania to parents of Indian and South Asian origin. Her father died in an automobile accident. She immigrated with her mother to Vancouver, Canada when she was 14. She earned her MBA at Simon Fraser University, British Columbia in 1994, In 1997, she completed the Advanced Human Resources Executive Program at the Ross School of Business, University of Michigan.

Career Hirji began working for the Royal Bank of Canada as a teller while attending university part-time in 1977. She also became responsible for branding, communications, and corporate citizenship. which pairs senior managers with junior employees from minority backgrounds for mutual encouragement, as well as "hidden bias" training.

In 2010, she was honored as Corporate Executive of the Year by the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce.

In 2014, she received the Catalyst Canada honour for her work championing the advancement of women and minorities in Canadian business.

In 2016, Hirji was granted Canada's Meritorious Service Medal for advancing diversity and inclusion, and the Outstanding Alumni Award for Professional Achievement from Simon Fraser University.

In 2017, she received the Ivey Business School Lifetime Achievement Award in HR Industry by Canadian HR Awards.

In 2025, Hirji received an Honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Trent University.