About Rita Jaiya Parikh

I’m a coach with more than three decades of executive management and governance experience across the finance, regulatory, non-profit, and cooperative sectors. While I draw on my experience fostering organizational growth, stewarding strategy and values, and leading cultural change in complex systems, I also bring to my coaching the same perspective that’s guided me as an activist and movement builder – one grounded in curiosity, justice, and integrity. I partner with purpose-driven executives, senior leaders, and board members who want to lead with clarity and make decisions that reflect their values. I am the 2025 recipient of Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women award.

Career

As a governance professional, I’m currently the board chair of both Vancity Credit Union and the Vancity Community Investment Bank, and a director with Oxfam Canada. Earlier in my career, I chaired the board of Mountain Equipment Co-op and held governance roles with Canadian Parents for French and the Victoria Refugee and Immigrant Centre Society. I have an abiding commitment to women’s and Indigenous peoples’ rights and justice, launching my career in the international development sector through leadership roles with Inter Pares and Pacific Peoples Partnership. I paired this work with a focus on human rights, serving as an investigator for the Canadian Human Rights Commission, and as an adjudicator on several administrative justice tribunals. Most recently, I led the Nursing Community Assessment Service with the BC College of Nurses and Midwives, working to create more equitable pathways for internationally educated health professionals. Read more about me on LinkedIn.