Omid Vafa
Omid grew up in numerous multicultural communities around the world, being fortunate to travel to over 70 countries and live in more than 10. During his childhood, he lived in Afghanistan (1976-1980) where his father was stationed as a diplomat from Iran. In the later years of his stay in Afghanistan, Omid survived 4 coups d’état, including a Soviet Union invasion before moving back to Iran. He moved back to his home country during a time of chaos. It was the final month of the Pahlavi Empire and Iran was undergoing political shifts due to the Iranian Revolution (1979) and war with Iraq (1980).
Throughout his 5 years of return to Iran, Omid experienced the Iran and Iraq war. With the eruption of war and the persecution Baha'is were facing after the Iranian Revolution, he had no other choice but to flee. Omid left his family behind before turning 16 in hopes of a brighter future. He prevailed on another perilous journey during his time as a refugee in Pakistan for over 2 years (1985-1988) before getting the opportunity to start a new life in Canada. He lived there for just over a decade without having to worry for his physical safety. Following his life in Canada, U.S, Switzerland, Australia and the UK, Omid moved to Japan (2005) and began immediately searching for ways to contribute his knowledge and experience to the Japanese community.
Omid’s academic life has spanned over fifteen years at the undergraduate and graduate level, focusing mainly on International Affairs and International Law. He earned a BA degree from Concordia University, M.A from McGill/Harvard University and LLM from Kyoto University and hold a Doctorate degree from University of Cambridge. Among some active roles as an advisor in the corporate world, Omid is a philanthropist, entrepreneur, and public speaker, giving talks on a variety of topics on entrepreneurship, fashion and education to youth and various interest groups/associations, athletes and corporate.
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