 The youngest of four children born to refugee parents who had fled their own countries to seek peace. Hosain arrived in Canada, when he was 10-years-old.
He was raised and educated in London, where he has spent most of the past decade giving back to the only country he has been able to call home. Hosain is now working and fully engaged in his adopted country. In this city, Hosain is known for his active volunteerism, working with autistic youth, coaching a public school volleyball team and helping run events. His goal for the future is to get into policing. He hopes to continue his contributions to this country and as he says, "Being Canadian is the best thing I’ve ever had.” Hosain’s message to newcomers to London is to not be afraid of what is going on here. He emphasizes that Londoners are willing to help. To the London community, Hosain says thank you for being welcoming and giving him a chance to live and help in a country that he can now call home.
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 Born in Pakistan and raised in Saudi Arabia, Saleha Khan grew up planning to become a physician.
“Being of South Asian heritage, my parents dreamed I would go to medical school. In my family, people are professors, doctors and engineers. It’s limited to that or the army,” she says with a laugh. “I grew up thinking I’d be a doctor for a very, very long time.” It wasn’t until she hit pre-med school and started “dreading the idea of telling people they were hurt,” that she really gave the plan some thought and realized it wasn’t for her. And so she switched gears, started an education in business and personnel management, and forged a path that would eventually land her in London where she is breaking new ground as the city’s first ever Diversity & Inclusion Specialist. Saleha arrived in Canada as a single mom of four kids in 2001. After a few moves she was hired as Equity & Inclusion instructor at the Ontario Police College in Aylmer and in 2006 moved her family to London. She fell in love with the place for its Forest City characteristics, conversations around social justice and generally because it seemed like a great place to raise a family. “London is the first place where I felt that I could put my roots down.” During the past 11 years, while raising her kids, Saleha has volunteered on several coalitions and committees, most recently the London Police Service advisory committee on racial profiling/carding and Re-Forest London. She was also a co-founder of the London Family Honour project. In 2016, Saleha was hired as London’s Diversity & Inclusion Specialist. Her role is to attract employees who reflect London’s cultural diversity and also to help foster an inclusive organizational structure at city hall. Saleha is confident about her ability to fulfill management expectations and more. She wants city hall to become known as a place where all employees are welcomed to “bring their entire selves to work.” And she has a message for other newcomers as well. “Be bold, be honest, be strong, speak up, and work to be a part of the community. Give back wherever you can. Because we are truly blessed to be living in a place where we have so much.” |
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