Co-founder and Director

Laya Behbahani

Laya Behbahani is a PhD candidate in the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University (SFU) and is currently in her third year of hawza studies through Hawza Online. She completed her BA(Hons) and MA at the School of Criminology at SFU before completing further course work at the University of Vienna, Yale University, and Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. Laya was an instructor at Simon Fraser University for over a decade, teaching in the School of Criminology, Labour Studies as a Visiting Professor in the School of Public Policy. She is currently a Researcher at the Re:Structure Lab, based in Yale University, Stanford University, Michigan University School of Law and SFU. She previously worked at the Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling Section of the UN Office in Vienna, Austria and as a researcher at the Centre of Excellence in Responsible Business at the Schulich School of Business. Laya is a 2020 Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation Scholar, a winner of the Edward W. Said Memorial Scholarship and the COGECO Graduate Scholarship in Communication. Laya currently sits on the Advisory Council of the National Council of Canadian Muslims, an advocacy organization dedicated to promoting the human rights & civil liberties of Canadian Muslims. Laya is a co-founder and Director at Tasneem Institute.