Sharifa Khan was one of only 60 Ontarians awarded by the Honourable Senator Victor Oh for her outstanding volunteerism and positive impact on society
The Honourable Senator Victor Oh presented Sharifa Khan with The Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Medal this week, recognizing her outstanding volunteerism and service to society, and the positive impact she has had over 40 years.
“While this award commemorates the 70 th anniversary of Her late Majesty The Queen’s accession to the throne, it holds a much deeper meaning, as it also celebrates Her Majesty’s extraordinary commitment to service,” said Khan. “From this perspective, I’m both honoured and humbled to be receiving this medal, standing in reflection of such selfless values.”
As founder and president of Balmoral Multicultural Marketing, Canada’s largest and longest-running diversity focused agency, Khan has been a tireless champion of multicultural communities. She has
dedicated her life’s work to “building bridges of understanding,” between Canada’s government bodies,
media, and businesses, and this country’s thriving ethnic communities. In addition, Khan has donated
more than 40,000 hours of her personal time to volunteering for community causes, hospital boards,
and charities.
Khan was one of only 60 recipients in Ontario to be awarded by the Honourable Senator this week for
outstanding contribution. She is now a three-time recipient, having been awarded The Queen Elizabeth
II Golden Jubilee Award in 2002, and the Diamond Jubilee Award in 2012.
Khan’s lifelong commitment to serving her community first took flight 4 decades ago. She witnessed
how new immigrants, with growing buying power, who were richly contributing to this nation’s economic and cultural fabric, were essentially being ignored by many businesses and brands. These
communities were not on business leaders’ radars.
To change this, Khan founded her agency – at a time when “multicultural marketing” was not even a
term. Since then, she has been credited as the visionary founder of Canada’s multicultural marketing
discipline and her pioneering efforts have paved the way to establishing more than 5,000 jobs in her
industry. Moreover, through the years, Khan has given more than 300 immigrants their first big break in
the Canadian job market.
Beyond this, Khan’s positive community contributions run much deeper than what meets the eye
through her business. She is also an exceptional community-builder, volunteer and mentor. For
example:
Khan raised $23 million to build a course for Toronto’s waterfront, which now hosts all kinds of
national and international water sports. She also co-founded the Toronto International Dragon
Boat Festival
She has broken countless “glass ceilings” as the first woman and/or woman of colour to hold top
leadership positions in influential mainstream community organizations
Khan serves on the board of senators for Toronto General Hospital, and the board of governors
for Mount Sinai Hospital
Throughout her celebrated career, Khan has been recognized for being exceptionally dedicated
to her calling. She has been honoured by former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien for her
entrepreneurial success. In 2013, she was recognized as one of Canada’s top 25 immigrants. And
in 2018, Khan was named as one of Canada’s Top 18 Women of Influence.
Last year, Khan also received Canada’s highest industry honour as a 2021 inductee into the Canadian
Marketing Hall of Legends. She is the first multicultural marketer to have been given this recognition and
is one of only 83 such luminaries in the country.
“I want to take this opportunity to also congratulate my fellow Platinum Jubilee award recipients across
the country and around the world,” said Khan. “I share this honour with you in deep gratitude.”
About Balmoral Multicultural Marketing
For more than 33 years, Balmoral Multicultural Marketing has been helping both leading Canadian and
international brands, companies and government organizations generate growth and connections in
new markets across Canada, by cultivating relationships with this country’s ever-growing multicultural
communities. From research and strategic planning to creative advertising, community outreach, events
and PR, Balmoral offers full multicultural marketing services. D-Lounge is Balmoral’s dedicated digital
and social media specialty division. Balmoral has offices in Toronto, Mumbai and Shanghai. For more
information, please visit: www.balmoralmkt.com.
