Karima Hashmani

Karima Hashmani is the Chief Inclusion Officer at Metrolinx. Karima and her team lead Metrolinx's engagement, equity, and inclusion efforts. The team is focused on building equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) capacity across Metrolinx to create an equitable workplace and a culture of belonging. This includes embedding EDI into everything we do – from workplace practices to how we engage and work with communities.

Karima has more than two decades of experience addressing complex EDI and human rights issues within the education, social housing, and non-profit sector. Most recently, Karima was the Executive Director, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at the University of Toronto, where she focused on addressing systemic change within policies and practices on accessibility, sexual gender diversity and anti-racism. While at U of T, Karima co-convened the National Dialogues and Action and the Scarborough Charter on Anti-Black Racism and Black Inclusion in Canadian Higher Education and helped to mobilize more than 50 academic institutions across Canada to address anti-Black racism.

Prior to joining the University of Toronto, Karima spent 12 years at Toronto Community Housing, holding many roles in human rights, equity, and community development. She was part of the inaugural group of the Maytree Leaders for Change Fellows and was also an International Development Fellow with the Aga Khan Foundation. She is described by peers as a transformational leader with deep expertise in implementing change strategies within large complex organizations. Karima has dedicated her career to amplifying voices, advancing systemic change, and fostering inclusive environments.

Karima holds an Honours Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Studies from York University. She has also served on a number of non-profit boards and currently advises on EDI and Governance for the Rotman OnBoard Fellowship Program.