Zahra Esmail

Zahra is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Vantage Point, a non-profit organization that provides training and capacity building support to other non-profit organizations across BC. She has worked in the non-profit sector for over 15 years with experience in international development, housing and homelessness, community development, youth entrepreneurship, fundraising, and microfinance. She has a master's in globalization and international development from the University of Ottawa, a bachelor's in history from UBC, and an associate certificate in fundraising management from BCIT. In addition to her role on with the Lookout Foundation, Zahra sits on the boards of Cuso International and Fresh Roots Urban Farm Society, and is a member of Vancouver Foundation’s Honorary Governor’s Council. She is the Chair of BC’s Poverty Reduction Advisory Committee, an independent committee that advises government on policy developments related to poverty reduction and prevention. Zahra was recognized as one of Business in Vancouver’s Forty Under 40 in 2019 and was nominated for a Women of Distinction Award in the Non-Profit category in 2022. 

Zahra and her family are grateful to live on the ancestral and unceded lands of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh), and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) peoples.  She spends her free time enjoying the outdoors, practicing yoga, dancing, kayaking, traveling, or playing board games with her school-age daughter.