The Executive Director of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI), Karima Hashmani has accepted a fantastic new opportunity as the Chief Inclusion Officer at Metrolinx.

It is with mixed feelings that I announce that Karima Hashmani has accepted a fantastic new opportunity as the Chief Inclusion Officer at Metrolinx. While the University of Toronto is losing an incredible leader, I wish Karima all the best as she takes on her new role. Karima’s last day at the University of Toronto will be December 3, 2021.

It has been a privilege to work with Karima as our first Executive Director of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI), and I appreciate her support and leadership over the past several years. The last two years have seen extraordinary growth to meet the challenges and demands within the equity and Indigenous initiatives portfolio, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Karima began her impactful work at U of T as the Director, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion at UTSC, where she designed a three-year EDI strategy for the campus and successfully championed UTSC’s vision of inclusive excellence. Following this, Karima filled the critical institutional leadership role of Executive Director, EDI, responding to many challenges while building momentum on creating systemic change across the institution.

Karima was a collaborative force in pushing forward the Anti-Black Racism Task Force, the Antisemitism Working Group, the Advancement EDI Task Force, the Student Life EDIA Committee, and supported many faculties and divisions that are working to advance EDI at the University. Her work in the past year as the co-convenor of the National Dialogues and the Scarborough Charter was groundbreaking and will lead to widespread change as we address systemic Anti-Black racism nationally in the academic community. The work of her team of equity offices has been recognized throughout U of T, and they will continue to foster an inclusive culture with and for the U of T community.

It has been a rewarding experience working with and learning from Karima, and I hope you’ll join me in offering her congratulations as she pursues the next amazing step in her career. 

While we conduct the search for Karima’s successor, I am pleased to announce that Jodie Glean-Mitchell, currently the Director, Anti-Racism & Cultural Diversity Office, will be taking on a secondment as the Interim Executive Director, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion, effective December 6, 2021. I would like to thank Jodie for taking on this important work.

I will provide our community an update on the search for the Executive Director, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion in the coming months.