Ms. Farah Mohamed

President 

Farah Mohamed is the President of The Belinda Stronach Foundation (TBSF) which provides opportunities for girls and young women, aboriginal youth in Canada and youth in developing nations. The mission of the Foundation is to advance human potential and achievement through individual empowerment and social change.

Under Farah’s leadership, TBSF has created and launched the Foundation’s flagship programs; The G(irls)20 Summit and One Laptop Per Child Canada.  She has also overseen the Foundation’s work in Liberia with President Johnson Sirleaf and a humanitarian relief effort in Haiti after the 2010 earthquake.

Farah has a weekly column with Canada’s leading national newspaper, The Globe & Mail and was recently chosen as one of the Top 25 Most Influential Women in Canada by Women of Influence.

Farah has been featured on the front page of The Globe and Mail for her views on the rights of women in Afghanistan and has been called to speak on many occasions including International Women’s Day (Canada), The Impact of Empowering Girls & Women in an Emerging Democracy (Sudan), Creating Safe Spaces for Girls (G8/G20 Meeting of Parliamentarians in France), the Empowerment of Girls (Scotland) and is the co-anchor of the Clinton Global Initiative’s Action Network on Investing in Girls and Women at home and abroad (New York).

Prior to creating TBSF, Farah was the Vice President of Public Affairs and Community Engagement for VON Canada. At VON, she was successful in building government and private sector partnerships, as well as strengthening the brand of Canada’s largest, national, non-profit, charitable home and community-care organization.

For 10 years, Farah worked closely with some of Canada’s most senior politicians.  Farah began her political career in 1995 with The Honourable Paddy Torsney. From 1999 to 2004, Farah served as the Director of Communications for The Honourable Anne McLellan in her role as Minister of Justice, Minister of Health and Deputy Prime Minister of Canada.

Farah is a Member of the Board for the Canadian Club of Toronto and Hope Live.  She was appointed by the Premier of Ontario to serve as  Board Member for the Ontario Trillium Foundation for a term of four years and was a member of the Executive Committee for the Brazilian Ball 2010 and Maharaja Ball 2010.  She has served as a member of the Board of the Fred Victor Centre and as a mentor to new Canadians. In 2007, she took “active” participation to its extreme when she climbed 19,340 feet up Mount Kilimanjaro, raising $21,000 for charity.

Farah earned a Bachelor of Arts degree at Queens University and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Western Ontario in the field of Political Science.