Ziva Gorani

Ziva Gorani (@ZivaGorani) is a Kurdish Syrian queer feminist, activist, international speaker, and member of the Syrian Women’s Political Movement. She began her journey as a humanitarian worker soon after the Syrian revolution against the Syrian regime in 2011, as a responder to the humanitarian crisis. Her lived experience as a Kurdish queer woman, a refugee and a feminist led her to develop a unique understanding of social activism in the Middle East.

Ziva left her home in Syria after receiving threats due to her queer identity and is currently based in Canada. She was the lead on the first ever Collaborative in Peel region, Southern Ontario, and specifically speaks to building capacity in the inclusion of 2SLGBTQ+ communities in humanitarian sector and is an international advocate for 2SLGBTQ+ humanitarian workers. Ziva has worked as a consultant in the Canadian Trans Health Study and as the face of the Pride in Volunteering provincial campaign 2017, We Belong Campaign 2017.

Ziva won The Canadian Ethnic Media Award 2018 and Global Health Educational Initiative Award 2019 and was nominated for Every Day Political Citizen Award 2017, Waterfront Award 2018 in Canada.  She is a member of the Syria Solidarity Collective, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Artificial Intelligence, and is an artist painter with published art work in MPT magazine, New York.