A nationally recognized facilitator, educator, speaker, and leadership coach, Hanif Fazal brings 20+ years of vision, expertise and commitment to creating more equitable and inclusive environments. When people are with Hanif, they feel inspired, heard and can see possibilities in belonging in spaces they may have not been able to experience before. Hanif’s commitment to centering BIPOC voices is palpable - he truly cares about individuals and uses his own story to build authentic connections and share of himself.
In 2015, Hanif co-founded
Center for Equity and Inclusion (CEI), a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) consultancy that provides organizations with adaptive, interactive learning to build DEI capacity centering BIPOC experiences. CEI has led over 115 organizations nationwide to integrate DEI principles and practices into all aspects of their culture and business systems so that staff and leadership are in deeper communication and trust with one another.
Hanif is also a prolific speaker, having presented at the Gates Foundation & Philanthropy NW's regional conference. He’s a two-time presenter at Courageous Conversations National Summit on Race, and was a speaker at SXSW in 2018 and PGE’s Conference on Diversity.
On October 16, Hanif will be the keynote speaker at The Nonprofit Association of Oregon's: High Desert Conference.
“There is just such a brilliant way that Hanif is able to bring this perspective of speaking the truth in love… Some facilitators feel stuffy. There is a way that he interacts with people that is just very human-centered that’s really important when we’re having honest conversations about racial justice and equity - in a way that I haven’t seen other people do.”
- Chelsea Bunch, an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Officer at Oregon Housing and Community Services
Hanif is the child of Indian immigrants on his dad’s side and Mexican on his mom’s. Hanif felt mixed up, trying to hold onto who he knew himself to be, in a world that was never designed for him to thrive in. Hanif was consumed by trying to figure out how to feel at home in spaces that sounded like and acted like anything but the home he grew up in.
For more than 20 years now, Hanif tried to provide that “at home” feeling to other BIPOC people through his racial equity work. Founding CEI has given Hanif a platform to focus on advancing DEI within a broad range of organizations.
During the pandemic Hanif stepped away from his day-to-day work at CEI to write a book that connects his experiences as a Brown man, a business leader, and father to issues of racial equity. It’s intended to inspire folks to see what’s possible when you build a culture of belonging.
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