Wikipedia

Shahrzad Rafati

Shahrzad Rafati is an Iranian-Canadian[1] chairwoman and CEO of RHEI, formerly BBTV, – a global media company headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, which provides services to content creators and media companies.[2][3][4]

Shahrzad Rafati
Rafati in 2019
Born1979 (age 44–45)
Tehran, Iran
NationalityIranian, Canadian
Alma materUniversity of British Columbia (BSc)
Occupation(s)Chairperson & CEO, RHEI

Early life

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Rafati was born 1979 in Tehran, Iran and immigrated to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada as a teenager.[5] In 2005, she completed her BSc in computer science at the University of British Columbia.[6] Rafati also studied French at Université Paris Sorbonne (Paris IV),[7] and is a graduate of the Young Global Leaders Oxford Module: Transformational Leadership at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford.[8] Shahrzad also received her Honorary Doctorate from University Canada West in 2020.[9]

Career

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Separate from her role as a CEO of RHEI, Rafati is also a board member for Bjarke Ingels Group, an architecture firm, and was named Vice Chair of the board for Invest in Canada in 2019.[10] She has been a board member of the Vancouver Economic Commission,[11] and the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs.[12]

In September 2018, it was announced that Shahrzad was appointed by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to represent Canada on the Business Women Leaders task force, which was formed to advise global leaders on issues of women's economic empowerment as part of the G20 Summit.[13] She was later appointed as Canada's representative for G20 EMPOWER, a private sector alliance with the goal of advancing women's representation at leadership levels in the private sector.[14] In 2019 she was also appointed as the Vice Chair of Invest in Canada, a federal agency that aims to create jobs in Canada by facilitating foreign business investment by highlighting Canada's talent pool, economic growth across multiple industries, and geographic advantage as a hub for global trade.[15]

 
Rafati and Justin Trudeau at Collision conference in Toronto in 2019

Awards

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  • 2020: CanadianSME Magazine, Business Woman of the Year[16]
  • 2019: AdAge Creativity Awards, Visionary/Founder of The Year[17]
  • 2018: Ernst & Young, Entrepreneur of the Year, Pacific, Technology Category[18]
  • 2018: Canadian Innovation Awards Winner - Entrepreneur[19]
  • 2017: Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100 Award Winner - Hall of Fame[20]
  • 2017: Canada's Top 40 under 40[21]
  • 2016: Hollywood Reporter's 20 Most Powerful Women in Global Television,[22] Person of the Year by BC Technology Association,[23] TheWrap's Innovator List[24]
  • 2015: Variety's Power of Women list,[25]
  • 2014: Digital Life Design (DLD), Munich, Germany, panelist: Digital Storytelling: Surfing the Video Explosion (January 2014)[26]
  • 2013: Digi Awards, Executive of The Year (December 2013)[27]
  • 2013: Canada's Most Powerful Women: Top 100™ Award Winner in the Sun Life Financial Arts & Communications category (December 2013)[28]
  • 2013: Ernst & Young, Pacific Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year (October 2013)[29]
  • 2013: Business In Vancouver, CEO of The Year (October 2013)[30]
  • 2012: 40 Under 40 Business in Vancouver (December 2012)[31]
  • 2011: Fast Company's 100 Most Creative People in Business (2011)[32]

References

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  1. ^ "From war zone to boardroom: The improbable rise of BroadbandTV's Shahrzad Rafati". Digiday. 2015-05-26. Archived from the original on 2019-12-19. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  2. ^ "Canaccord Genuity launches coverage of BBTV with a $24.00 price target". Cantech Letter. 2020-11-27. Archived from the original on 2021-02-01. Retrieved 2021-02-24.
  3. ^ Shaw, Gillian. "BroadbandTV helps companies leverage YouTube branding potential" Archived 2015-09-29 at the Wayback Machine Vancouver Sun
  4. ^ Mckenzie, Kevin Hinton & Ryan. "BCBusiness". BCBusiness. Archived from the original on 2019-11-15. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  5. ^ Blattberg, Eric. "From war zone to boardroom: The improbable rise of BroadbandTV's Shahrzad Rafati," Archived 2015-08-01 at the Wayback Machine Digiday
  6. ^ "CS Alumna Turned Pirate into Profit | Computer Science at UBC". Cs.ubc.ca. Archived from the original on 2012-07-16. Retrieved 2012-08-05.
  7. ^ Rickwood, Lee. "Man or Woman, Tech Offers Opportunity for All, Says Canada’s Top Digi CEO" Archived 2016-03-05 at the Wayback Machine Diversity Now
  8. ^ "Shahrzad Rafati". World Economic Forum. Archived from the original on 2021-09-27. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  9. ^ "BroadbandTV CEO Shahrzad Rafati receives UCW honorary doctorate". ucanwest.ca. Archived from the original on 2021-04-12. Retrieved 2021-04-01.
  10. ^ "Minister Carr announces new Vice Chair and Director to the board of Invest in Canada". Global Affairs Canada, Government of Canada. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 9 April 2023.
  11. ^ "Shahrzad Rafati". World Economic Forum. Archived from the original on 2021-09-27. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  12. ^ "2016 Annual Award Winners". Women in Communications and Technology. 2017-03-10. Archived from the original on 2020-09-25. Retrieved 2020-01-16.
  13. ^ Weiss, Geoff. "Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Taps BBTV Founder Shahrzad Rafati For Women’s Economic Initiative" Archived 2018-10-04 at the Wayback Machine Tubefilter
  14. ^ OECD."Policies and Practices to Promote Women in Leadership Roles in the Private Sector Report prepared by the OECD for the G20 EMPOWER Alliance" Archived 2021-04-19 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ "BBTV Founder Shahrzad Rafati Named Vice Chair Of Canadian Federal Investment Agency". Tubefilter. 2019-05-20. Archived from the original on 2020-03-06. Retrieved 2020-01-15.
  16. ^ "Shahrzad Rafati, Founder & CEO, BroadbandTV Corp. Named CanadianSME Magazine's Business Woman of the Year". Cantech Letter. Retrieved 2020-01-29.
  17. ^ "Creativity Award 2019 Visionary/Founder of the Year: Shahrzad Rafati, BroadbandTV". adage.com. 2019-04-15. Retrieved 2019-11-15.
  18. ^ Unknown. "Entrepreneur Of The Year 2018: Technology" BC Business
  19. ^ Greenwood, Max. "Announcing the Winners of the Seventh Annual Canadian Innovation Awards" Techvibes
  20. ^ Unknown. "The B.C. achievers on WXN's 2017 Top 100 list of Canada's Most Powerful Women" BC Business
  21. ^ Unknown. "2017 – Canada’s Top 40 Under 40" Canada’s Top 40 Under 40
  22. ^ Roxborough, Scott. "The 20 Most Powerful Women in Global Television 2016" Hollywood Reporter
  23. ^ Unknown. "BroadbandTV’s Shahrzad Rafati Named Person of the Year by the BCTIA" BC Technology
  24. ^ Schwindt, Oriana. "TheWrap’s 2016 Innovators List: 11 Change Agents Who Are Disrupting Hollywood" The Wrap
  25. ^ Unknown. "Women’s Impact Report 2015" Variety
  26. ^ Digital Life Design. "Digital Storytelling: Surfing the Video Explosion" DLD Conference
  27. ^ Thomas, Knowlton. "BroadbandTV's Shahrzad Rafati Named Executive of the Year at 2013 Digi Awards" Tech Vibes
  28. ^ Crawford, Emma. "B.C. home to 19 of country’s top 100 most powerful women" Business in Vancouver
  29. ^ Techvibes NewsDesk. "EY Names 2013 Pacific Entrepreneur of the Year Winners" Tech Vibes
  30. ^ "BIV unveils 2013 BC CEO of the Year winners" Business in Vancouver
  31. ^ "https://www.biv.com/article/2012/12/biv-announces-fresh-crop-of-forty-under-40-winners/" Business in Vancouver
  32. ^ "MOST CREATIVE PEOPLE 2011 37. SHAHRZAD RAFATI" Fast Company
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