About Dr. Golnaz Golnaraghi

Dr. Golnaz Golnaraghi (she/her) is an Iranian Canadian changemaker, speaker and author. She is founder of Accelerate Her Future, a leading career accelerator in Canada providing tailored programs by and for Black, Indigenous and racialized women pursuing careers in business and tech while developing networks of solidarity and action. She is also the founder of Divity Group, offering a human centered approach to facilitation and learning and development focused on equity and inclusion and leadership development. 

A TEDx and Walrus Talks speaker, Golnaz has published her work in books, journals and magazines. As a keynote speaker and facilitator, Golnaz has addressed audiences at organizations like Accenture, IGM Financial, Rogers Communications, Startup Canada and WSIB. 

Golnaz is honoured to have been named as a top 50 Changemaker by The Globe and Mail’s Report on Business and a New Entrepreneur to Watch by Future of Good for advancing intersectional Gender Equity and a Coralus Venture as a Founder of Accelerate Her Future.

She was previously an associate faculty at Royal Roads University and a professor at Sheridan College with a focus on leadership development. She has also held marketing management positions at leading multinational consulting and professional services firms including KPMG. She completed her doctorate in 2015 with her thesis titled “Postcoloniality, Diversity Discourses and Corporate Canada: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Corporate Images of the ‘Immigrant’ at Work.” Her research interests include women of colour and career/leadership development, women of colour in the workplace, constructions of Muslim women, racialized immigrants and the labour market, and transformative learning. Golnaz has also co-authored a chapter on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in The Oxford Handbook of Diversity in Organizations.

A global citizen and teaching herself to cook beautiful Iranian cuisine, Golnaz has lived in three countries. She currently calls Toronto home.

Award-Winning Leader & Changemaker

Coralus

2023 Selected Venture

Accelerate Her Future has been selected as a 2023 Coralus Finalist and will receive world-class coaching, financing and access to a community around the world offering their expertise and connections.

Future of Good

2022 New Founders to Watch

“Future of Good is excited to present our 2022 list of 21 new social impact founders to watch. Each founder on this list is working on a promising solution for a more equitable, sustainable, caring post-pandemic Canada.”

The Globe and Mail

2021 Report on Business Changemakers

“Report on Business Magazine selected 50 entrepreneurs, academics and executives who are striving to find a better way of doing things.”

“I am a first-generation immigrant from Iran and visitor on this land who arrived due to a revolution uprising in my country. Honouring the women in my lineage, I am the daughter of Mehrangiz Saebi, grand daughter of Ensieh Saebi and Heshmat Golnaraghi. I am grateful and humbled for the opportunity to live, grow and work on the lands protected by the Dish with One Spoon wampum agreement, the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, Anishnaabeg, the Attawandaron, and the Métis peoples.”

“I am a first-generation immigrant from Iran and visitor on this land who arrived due to a revolution uprising in my country. Honouring the women in my lineage, I am the daughter of Mehrangiz Saebi, grand daughter of Ensieh Saebi and Heshmat Golnaraghi. I am grateful and humbled for the opportunity to live, grow and work on the lands protected by the Dish with One Spoon wampum agreement, the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, Anishnaabeg, the Attawandaron, and the Metis peoples.”

© 2013 – 2024 Golnaz Golnaraghi. All Rights Reserved.