Multi award-winning social impact leader | Chief Executive Officer | 2022 BC Business Women of Year Nonprofit Leader winner | Finance Executive | Board Director | Mentor
Neelam Sahota: Social Impact ICON
For Neelam Sahota, making a social impact is personal. As the chief executive officer of a 46-year-old registered charity DIVERSEcity Community Resources Society, it’s a calling.
Inspired to move issues forward for social change, Neelam’s story is firmly grounded in her experiences as a first-generation Canadian, witnessing firsthand the struggles faced by her Sikh immigrant family.
After building a progressive career in government and the private sector, the FCPA came to work at DIVERSEcity as a part-time member of its finance team, while raising three young children. Moving up in the organization as her two daughters and son also grew older, Neelam had a strong and innovative vision for DIVERSEcity’s role in improving people’s lives, while advancing the social and economic development of Surrey, BC. It came to no one’s surprise when she was offered DIVERSEcity’s top job at age 39.
Neelam Sahota, CEO, of DIVERSEcity charts a strong vision for the 46-year-old organization
Neelam has since led the non-profit organization through challenging and changing times over the last 11 years with the values of purpose, quality, collaboration and compassion as her baseline.
Under Neelam’s transformational leadership, DIVERSEcity has seen tremendous growth and evolution since its inception 46 years ago as the first immigrant settlement organization in Surrey, BC. Today, as Surrey becomes the fastest-growing city in the province, Neelam is leading the BIPOC-led registered charity with a forward-thinking vision to serve diverse and under-represented groups amongst the community with impactful, equitable and culturally safe programs and services, while pushing forward systems change overall.
With Neelam's desire to develop innovative business strategies to maximize impact for the people and communities DIVERSEcity serves, the organization has undergone significant diversification, including the introduction of two social enterprises.
It has also become one of the largest employers in the South Fraser, supplemented by a stable of 350+ volunteers. Perhaps, most importantly, it has evolved into an organization that is ambitious in its vision to create a more inclusive and equitable world for all.
Neelam Sahota moderated a series of virtual DIVERSEtalks: Conversations for Change launched during the pandemic to inspire transformative dialogue.
“While I knew the road ahead leading DIVERSEcity was not going to be an easy one, I knew it was the right one to take to lead authentically from the intersectionality of who I was and who I represented. These opportunities to this day are still rare for BIPOC women.”
Neelam Sahota, along with Minister Marc Miller and other dignitaries, welcomed new citizens in a citizenship ceremony hosted at DIVERSEcity in May 2024.
As a woman leader, Neelam Sahota has not only inspired the launch of the DIVERSEcity X Minerva Women’s Leadership Forum to celebrate International Women’s Day annually (next one is coming up on March 6, 2025!) , she is a sought-after speaker and mentor on women’s issues, as well as the recipient of the BC Business Women of the Year (Non-profit leader) award in 2022.
Neelam Sahota and highlights of the 2024 DIVERSEcity X Minerva Women’s Leadership Forum.
Neelam Sahota was interviewed for Women in Focus series by South Asian broadcasting icon Sushma Datt on the challenges and triumphs she has experienced as a woman in leadership.
As a racialized female leader, she uses her voice and champions the advancement of women of all diverse backgrounds using her intersectionality lens to ensure equitable pathways to leadership roles.
Neelam Sahota welcomed Premier David Eby to DIVERSEcity last year.
Community leadership is a critical component of Neelam’s leadership story. She is a Board Governor of Simon Fraser University where she has served as Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee. She is the Co-Chair of the Surrey Local Immigration Partnership, the Treasurer for the Immigrant Employment Council of BC Benefits Corporation, a Director for the Association of Canadian Studies, an Advisory Board Member of Roger’s Sports and Media’s OMNI TV and an Advisory Board Member for Solid State Industries. Neelam also serves as an advisor to the City of Vancouver on diversity and racial equity issues.
Neelam Sahota is interviewed by the Discovery Pod on building relationships across organizations, boards of directors and the community.