Professor Margaret Ogilvie is a member of the first Board of Directors of the Global Centre for Pluralism. Professor Margaret Ogilvie is Professor of Law and Chancellor’s Professor at Carleton University, Ottawa. Dr. Ogilvie is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (1993) and a recipient of the David W. Mundell Medal (1996) for legal scholarship, the Law Society Medal (2001) from the Law Society of Upper Canada, and numerous honourary doctorates in recognition of her contributions to the legal profession, both in Canada and abroad. She has served on several boards in the not-for-profit sector in Canada, such as the Centre for Cultural Renewal. In 2008 she was invested into the Order of Ontario in recognition of her lifelong achievement as an educator and legal scholar.

Dr. Azim Nanji is a member of the first Board of Directors of the Global Centre for Pluralism. Dr. Azim Nanji is the Senior Associate Director for the Abbasi Program in Islamic Studies at Stanford University. He previously served as the Director of the Institute of Ismaili Studies for ten years (1998-2008). He has also held a number of academic and administrative appointments at various American and Canadian universities, and has been the recipient of awards from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Canada Council, and the National Endowment for Humanities. Dr. Nanji has served as Co-Chair of the Islam section at the American Academy of Religion, and on the Editorial Board of the Academy's Journal. He is currently preparing the Historical Dictionary of Islam to be published by Penguin Press.

Dr. Huguette Labelle is a member of the first board of directors of the Global Centre for Pluralism. Dr. Huguette Labelle, Canada - Appointed Chancellor of the University of Ottawa in 1994, Dr. Huguette Labelle holds a doctor of philosophy degree from the University of Ottawa, and has honorary degrees from a number of Canadian universities. Dr. Labelle was president of the Canadian International Development Agency from 1993 to 1999. From 1973 to 1993 she held several senior positions within government. Among other activities, she chairs the board of Transparency International, is an external advisor to the Implementation of the World Bank Governance and Anti-Corruption Strategy and sits on the World Health Organization’s Migration Technical Working Group. Dr. Labelle has been awarded the Companion to the Order of Canada for her work.

Rudyard Griffiths is the Executive Director of the Centre for Civic Engagement, as well as the director of the Munk Debates and the Grano Speakers Series. He is a co-founder of the Historica-Dominion Institute, and sits on numerous boards including the Canadian Institute for Citizenship. In 2008, he was appointed Honorary Lieutenant-Colonel of the Canadian Forces College. He is the author of Who We Are: A Citizen's Manifesto, and the editor of numerous books on Canadian history, politics and international affairs. Mr. Griffiths is a columnist with the National Post and co-host of the daily Business News Network television show Squeeze Play.

Yash Ghai is a member of the First Board of Directors of the Global Centre for Pluralism. Yash Ghai is the head of the UNDP Constitution Advisory Support Unit in Nepal. Formerly he was the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Human Rights in Cambodia. Mr. Ghai has had an international academic career as a professor of law and as a constitutional expert, beginning with the establishment of East Africa’s first law school in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. In 1989, he was appointed Professor of Public Law at the University of Hong Kong. He has advised many countries on draft constitutions, including Afghanistan, Iraq and his home country Kenya, where he was chairman of the Constitution of Kenya Review Commission from 2000-2004.

Iain T. Benson is a member of the first Board of Directors of the Global Centre for Pluralism Iain T. Benson is a lawyer, writer, lecturer and consultant. He is a Senior Associate Counsel for Miller Thomson LLP and is Professor Extraordinary in the Department of Constitutional Law and Philosophy of Law, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa. His writing on the nature of the “secular” and “secularism” has been cited with approval by the Supreme Court of Canada and the Constitutional Court of South Africa. For several years he has been one of eight members of a Continuation Committee to create the South African Charter of Religious Rights and Freedoms.

Kofi A. Annan is a member of the first board of directors of the Global Centre for Pluralism, Canada Kofi A. Annan was the seventh Secretary-General of the United Nations, serving from 1997 to 2006. While at the UN Mr. Annan established the Peacebuilding Commission and played a central role in the creation of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. He championed responsibility of states to protect people from genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity. Mr. Annan was awarded the 2001 Nobel Prize for Peace jointly with the United Nations. Since leaving the UN, Mr. Annan has continued to advocate for better policies to meet the needs of the poorest, particularly in Africa. Mr. Annan is the Chairman of the Kofi Annan Foundation.