Aftab Erfan

Aftab Erfan (she/her) is a scholar-practitioner currently serving as the Executive Director of the Wosk Centre for Dialogue at Simon Fraser University. She was previously Chief Equity Officer for the City of Vancouver, and Director of Dialogue and Conflict Engagement for the University of British Columbia. Aftab is a committed collaborative leader, most interested in the design and implementation of organizational structures and practices that lift up the voices of the margins, and create the conditions for every person to flourish. She brings a pragmatic, empathic, and rigorous approach to every project.

Originally from Iran, Aftab is a first generation Settler. She moved to Canada as a teenager with her family and settled in the Vancouver area, on xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) lands. Her formal education is in environmental sciences, fine arts, and urban planning. Aftab grew up within the youth environmental movement, where she learned that activism is an effective antidote to despair, and where she experienced the gifts of working in community. She holds a PhD in Community and Regional Planning from the University of British Columbia, where she subsequently taught for a decade and completed a 4-year stint as Director of Dialogue and Conflict Engagement for the university. She has worked as a consultant on four continents, but is most energized by what she is able to accomplish in her own backyard – including raising children and growing fruit.

Resonating with Vancouver Foundation’s focus on supporting projects that address the root causes of important issues, Aftab joined the Board to lend her skills to the Foundation’s success. She is cautiously optimistic about the future of humanity.