Lily Pourzand
Director, Partnership and Community Engagement
LL.M., B.A. in Women’s Studies. Expert in Gender Equality and Intersectionality of Social Services.
Lily Pourzand is a social services leader with over a decade of leadership practice in Canada. She is an expert in gender-based violence, equity, diversity, violence against women, intersectionality, inclusivity, and accessibility.
Lily is a first-generation immigrant woman who came to Canada for political safety and personal freedom in 1999 after graduating from law school in Tehran, Iran. She graduated from York University with a Bachelor’s in Women and Gender studies in 2007. Lily continued her education and graduated with a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the Osgoode Hall Law School in 2010, focusing on the intersection of sociolegal barriers in immigrant women’s lives.
Lily has dedicated her professional life to the Violence Against Women and Intersectionality field and has worked in many different leadership positions in York Region during the past decade. Her passion lies in bridging service gaps, utilizing resources, and fostering connections within communities.
Lily has published many articles and has been featured in mainstream media, such as the Toronto Star, National Post, BBC, CBC, and Global News. Writing, storytelling, and public speaking are routed in her natural elements.
In August 2022, Lily received the Queen Elizabeth Platinum Jubilee Pin for her lifetime dedication to Gender Equality and Women Empowerment. Lily received the Courage and Leadership Award from the McCain Institute on behalf of Iranian women and in honouring the Woman Life Freedom movement in April 2023. In June 2023, Lily was named as one of Canada’s Top 50 Immigrants. In November 2023, Lily was awarded as one of the 2023 Top 100 Women in Canada in the category of Courage and Leadership by the Women Executive Network.
Women’s individual and collective narratives are the source of Lily’s inspiration. Through Lily’s feminist lens, women’s personals are political.