About me
Dr. Farha Shariff, Ph.D
Intersectional Anti-Oppression Educator, Academic Colleague
Senior Advisor, Accessibility, Community and Belonging
Office of the Dean, Faculty of Education, University of Alberta, Canada
Interim Director, The Centre for Research for Teacher Education and Development
Race Equity Council Co-Chair, University of Alberta
Guided by the principles of mâmawohkamâtowin—working together with compassion—and Insaaniyat—honouring the humanity and dignity of all—I weave relationships that make belonging possible. As the Inaugural Senior Advisor to the Dean of Education for Access, Community, and Belonging Initiatives and Interim Director of CRTED, my work lives at the intersection of justice, care, and curiosity. I bring people together across disciplines and communities to ask: What more can we do together, and in good relationship?Through teaching, research, service, and collaborative leadership, I nurture spaces where students are co-creators of knowledge and equity is a daily practice, not an aspiration. My approach to equity is relational and grounded in care—whether co-developing inclusive curricula, guiding institutional policy, mentoring students navigating harm, or convening gatherings that braid Indigenous, decolonial, and global perspectives.I see education as a collective act of courage and imagination: an invitation to listen deeply, hold discomfort with respect, and act with integrity toward more just futures. In every role I inhabit, I strive to ensure that access, community, and belonging are not merely principles—but lived, felt, and sustained through our relationships with one another.
