Jamil Jivani is a Canadian lawyer, activist, professor and author. He is focused on creating economic opportunities for families, empowering youth and improving public safety.
Jamil has held research and teaching appointments at Osgoode Hall Law School and Yale Law School. Jamil was also the director of law and policy at Our Ohio Renewal, a nonprofit organization founded at Ohio State University to develop solutions to the issues raised in J.D. Vance’s bestselling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy.” He previously practiced law at the international business law firm Torys LLP.
Jamil’s community leadership has included founding the Citizen Empowerment Project and serving as Vice Chair of the Children’s Aid Society of Toronto. He has also volunteered with youth organizations in Kenya, Egypt and Belgium.
Jamil’s work in disadvantaged neighborhoods in North America and Europe has led him to appear on numerous national and international television and radio programs. His writing has been published by The UK Guardian, Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, National Post and Australia’s Quillette magazine.
A graduate of Humber College, York University and Yale Law School, Jamil was named the 2015 young lawyer of the year by the Canadian Association of Black Lawyers and received the International Development and Relief Foundation’s 2017 youth leadership award.
Jamil’s first book “Why Young Men: Rage, Race and the Crisis of Identity” was published by HarperCollins in April 2018 and listed for the Toronto Book Awards.