Farhaan Ladhani

Farhaan Ladhani is the CEO of Perennial. For over a decade, Farhaan has been leading efforts on the use of digital tools to connect people. In 2012 and 2013, working with Perennial’s co-founder Ben Rowswell, he conceived and delivered Canada’s first major digital foreign policy initiative, called Direct Diplomacy. Most recently he served as the Senior Advisor for Digital Outreach in the Office of the Prime Minister. Prior to this, Farhaan was the Deputy Director for Direct Diplomacy at Global Affairs Canada – an initiative focused on engaging with non-state political actors seeking to increase the openness, inclusiveness and responsiveness of their political systems.

Farhaan’s foreign assignments include the Head of Section for Strategic Communications in Kandahar where he lead a team of Afghan, US, Canadian, and international partners responsible for executing strategic communications and public engagement initiatives throughout Kandahar Province. From 2006 to 2008, Farhaan was based in Washington, D.C. at the Embassy of Canada where he focused on the development of social and new media initiatives.