Soudeh Ghasemi

After immigrating to Canada from Iran in late 2004, I further pursued my education and career and I currently hold Charted Professional Accountant designation. I am fluent in both Farsi and English allowing me to better connect with my fellow Iranian-Canadians. I have been working in different areas of accounting and finance for the past seven years including teaching at the Seneca College.

Previously I served as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the OMID foundation Toronto chapter, a registered charity, which empowers disadvantaged young women in Iran. I have also been heavily involved with the Liberal Party of Canada during the federal election for the Markham-Thornhill, Willowdale and Richmond Hill area. I joined the UN Habitat in 2016 and worked closely with the Executives of the organization to promote and introduce the New Urban Agenda to the leaders of countries across the globe during the United Nations Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development (Habitat III).

I am compassionate about giving back to the community and have volunteered my time as the Vice President of the Iranian Canadian Congress for the past two years. I am a strong advocate of promoting and protecting the rights, freedoms and interests of all Iranians in Canada while encouraging Iranian- Canadians to achieve unity in order to reach our common goals. During this process, I was able to mobilize our community members around important issues which affects a large number of community members, encouraged them to raise their concerns and to be a part of a democratic process. As a result ICC is now a strong voice for our community. I hope to maintain this initiative if elected for the second term as a board member of the Iranian Canadian Congress.

Dr. Arsalan Kahnemuyipour was born in Abadan but spent most of his youth in Tehran until he moved to Canada with his wife, Kamnoosh Shahabi, in 1998. He completed a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering at Sharif University and a Master’s degree in TEFL at Allameh Tabatabaei University. Mr. Kahnemuyipour started his graduate studies in Linguistics at the University of Toronto in 1998 and received his PhD degree in 2004. He then accepted a position at Syracuse University and worked there for six years. In 2010, he returned to Canada and resumed a faculty position at the University of Toronto, where he have worked since. 

Mr. Kahnemuyipour has always been engaged in social and cultural activities. During his  years at Sharif University, he was a founding member of a very active Film Club. In 1999, together with several friends, he founded the Iranian Association at the University of Toronto (IAUT), still a successful cultural organization some fifteen years after establishment. Dr. Kahnemuyipour became a member of the Iranian Canadian Congress shortly after his return to Canada in 2010. In the past two years, he has been very active trying to establish some basic democratic principles such as transparency, accountability and the rule of law in ICC. HE was an active member of ICC’s Policy Development Committee, where he spent tens of hours on revisions to the organization’s bylaws. Most recently, he played a central role in the member-initiated campaign “I am an Iranian-Canadian too”, where, with the help of many volunteers, he managed to sign up hundreds of new members for ICC. The opportunity to speak to scores of community members has given me the energy and dedication to pursue the principles he stands for as an ICC board member. 

Arsalan Kahnemuyipour spoke with Radio Canada on behalf of the Iranian Canadian Congress about the views of ICC members on the Iran nuclear deal and the reaction from the Canadian government to this deal.