"On behalf of N.E.E.D.S. Inc., I want to extend our sincere gratitude for your attendance and for delivering the keynote speech at our 25th-anniversary gala dinner. Your presence and keynote address played a significant role in making the event a resounding success. Your speech not only resonated deeply with our audience but also provided them with profound inspiration and encouragement. We are truly honored to have had you as our keynote speaker, and we look forward to working with you again for our future endeavors. Once again, thank you for your time, dedication, and remarkable insight."
-Newcomers Employment and Education Development Services (N.E.E.D.S.) Inc."I wanted to extend another huge thank you for being a most incredible speaker for us on International Women's Day! I am so inspired and have a renewed energy to refocus on what's important to me. We are already receiving rave reviews of your message, and everyone found you to be incredibly genuine and inspiring. Thank you for your kindness and professionalism in the lead up to today – it has been an absolute pleasure coordinating with you."
-TD Auto Finance"Not only does Zahra have a compelling story, but she has a very humble and connective way of telling it. From the moment she started her speech, I could tell the audience was engaged, involved, and wanted to hear more. She injected humor when needed, remained serious when the story got intense, and wasn’t afraid to share everything with the group. Zahra has a real message to tell, and makes sure to include lessons learned and expressly focus on the take home value inherent to her experiences."
-Entrepreneurs Organization (EO)"Zahra’s keynote was nothing short of amazing. All of the advice that she shared with the audience was simple to understand, but by taking her advice and applying it to your day to day life, you knew that you can have a big impact on your path to success. Students and academic leaders in the crowd, were absolutely astounded by her story, one that received a standing ovation from every single individual in the crowd after her last words were said. With just over half of all the students involved in our program being females, Zahra served as an ideal role model for our female student leaders — as well as the males — one that they inspire to emulate. Through feedback from the audience afterwards, you could feel that everyone was energized, inspired, and motivated to overcome any obstacle, tackle any challenge, and achieve anything they put their mind to."
-Advancing Canadian Entrepreneurship"Zahra was committed, gracious, cooperative, and very easy to work with. The Launch event was the most well-attended event in WIPP’s history. We feel this is thanks, in no small part, to Zahra’s compelling personal and professional accomplishments… Zahra’s powerful story of determination, spirit, and will to follow her dreams to a path of exceptional success, was inspirational and compelling to our audience. Our WIPP donors are still talking about the impact she made. One of the guests attending commented, 'Her message resonated with all of the women in the room.'"
-Providence Health Care Foundation"Zahra Al-Harazi’s magical personality shines through every word she speaks. The keynote she delivered for 350 young women at the JA Southern Alberta World of Choices Career Exploration event was warm, informative, and highly inspirational. Her insight into how people can harness their passion and overcome obstacles to become, and remain, successful is as refreshing as it is powerful. She is an amazing and engaging speaker. The audience becomes wrapped up in her message of perseverance and hope!"
-JA Southern Alberta"It was a pleasure having Zahra speak and engage with our leadership team. Her storytelling capabilities are as extraordinary as the life experiences she has had. She was very authentic in her approach and kept the message clear and on point. I walked away with several great take-aways that will support the ongoing growth in my leadership journey."
-Sobeys Inc"Zahra’s presentation was VERY well received. We had many comments right after the session and they are still coming in. They thought that her message was very powerful, she was relatable and a wonderful keynote speaker. Thank you again for the great suggestion."
-Home TrustThe Power of Purpose: Organizational Values that Thrive
Your brand is a reflection of your organization’s culture, which is determined by your daily habits, values and guiding purpose.
In this presentation, ZAHRA AL-HARAZI draws on powerful stories from extraordinary leaders who have learned to build, shape and unlock their purpose. She proves that the key to building a great company lies in how well you enable learning and connection. She shows you how to reverse engineer your purpose into your organizational reason for being and thrive in a world that is constantly changing. She explores how to create compelling brand propositions, as well as how to lead and motivate your team to bring out their powerful talent within.
What It Takes: A Story of Purpose, Strength, and Laughter
Today, ZAHRA AL-HARAZI is a successful entrepreneur, a consultant to some of the world's biggest companies, and a sought-after international speaker. Her voice is clear and confident – but this was not always the case. Zahra was raised in a country where women didn’t have a voice. Growing up, her goal was to stand out as little as possible. In 1996, she found herself in Canada as a refugee, with no understanding of the culture or business world, and no higher education. She had little confidence in what she had to say. Through perseverance, she managed to find her voice. In this inspiring presentation, Zahra shares her journey of how she channeled frustration into courage, the mistakes she’s glad she made, the milestones that propelled her, and how a compelling voice can help anyone get what they want most in life.
Dreamer to Leader: Building Powerful & Purposeful Leadership
To build the life we’re meant to live takes more than ability or luck — it takes the right mindset. Today, it’s more important than ever to be a learner, adapt and teach yourself new skills. This insight formed the basis of ZAHRA AL-HARAZI’s latest entrepreneurial journey - Skillit - an online skill-sharing marketplace that makes learning new skills fun at any age. In this keynote, Zahra outlines key insights from the new science of motivation and learning to guide audiences through a journey of building resilience and grit, and why adopting a growth mindset is the key to success in today’s fast-paced world. Using evidence from large-scale behavioral experiments, and new findings from science and the business world, Zahra guides audiences through a journey of resilience, an enlivened attitude, and an openness to adapting for success.
The road to real leadership is rarely a straight one. Among Canada’s most successful entrepreneurs, few have faced more obstacles than Zahra Al-Harazi. With a no-holds-barred attitude, Al-Harazi helps people and organizations realize their potential for success through finding their purpose. She draws on her experience as a pioneering woman in the business world with a unique approach to attitude, leadership, and success, as well as her experience as a refugee, immigrant, entrepreneur, and community builder.
A survivor of two civil wars, Al-Harazi immigrated to Canada with her three children in 1996. She had no higher education or connections and very little understanding of the business world, but her entrepreneurial spirit quickly led her to start her first company Foundry Communications, an internationally recognized Canadian creative powerhouse. Al-Harazi is currently co-founder, Skillit, which is an edutainment site for sharing knowledge and building skills.
Zahra is also a consultant who has worked with thousands of Fortune 500 corporations on purpose leadership training, how to use purpose to stand out in a competitive environment, and how to design a purpose driven company. She shares her deep knowledge and “how to” with clients, so they can skip the hard lessons and go straight to strategies that work. navigating disruption, leading change, shifting stakeholder values and transforming your brand.
In recognition of her many accomplishments, Al-Harazi has been named one of Canada’s "Top 40 Under 40," Woman Entrepreneur of the Year by Chatelaine magazine, and one of Canada’s "100 most powerful women." She has also received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal for contributions to Canada, and the RBC Top 25 Immigrants to Canada Award.
As a speaker, Al-Harazi has spoken to audiences in more than 20 countries, inspiring leading institutions such as Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs, government agencies, and professional organizations. Her clients have included The Royal Bank of Canada, Entrepreneurs’ Organization, Ernst & Young, Young Presidents Organization, WXN, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Great West Life, Telus, University of Toronto, and the Government of Canada, among many others. Her specialty is in understanding the complexities required for building a smart, skilled multi-generational workforce.
Al-Harazi is a former Canadian Ambassador to UNICEF. She is the bestselling author of What it Takes, published January 2020 by Harper Collins.