Biography
Meet Zaki Mohammed
I was born in Saudi Arabia to parents of Indian origin, schooled in India, and earned my B.A. in Hotel & Hospitality Management in Switzerland before coming to Canada to pursue a dual MBA/MSc in International Management through Vancouver Island University and the University of Hertfordshire.
From there, my path in Canada ran from international student to temporary foreign worker, to permanent resident, and now citizen. What started as a city I lived in as a means to a degree turned into a city I have now called home for over a decade. Having had the privilege of being a minority in every country I have lived in, I grew accustomed to being overlooked until coming to Canada, simply put Canada and Nanaimo gave me equal opportunity to win. Now it is important to me that as your future city councillor, I listen to every one of my constituents' voices because I understand what it is like to go unheard. I do not have family in Nanaimo in the traditional sense, but the friends and relationships I have built here over the past decade-plus are my family. It is part of why I am running. I see Nanaimo not just as the place I live, but as the community that took me in.
I have built my career inside Nanaimo's business and nonprofit community. As Financial Controller for Tony Harris Group (a private investment group with a diverse portfolio spanning real estate, automotive, marine services, hospitality, entertainment, and technology), I support major local development projects and oversee financial management and administration across the group's acquisitions and partnerships. As Director of the Tom Harris Community Foundation, I have helped raise more than $4.5 million supporting causes across the region, spanning healthcare, food security, and youth programs, leading the Foundation's fundraising and donor events. I also serve as Managing Partner of Revvin Creative & Studio West, a marketing and media agency.
Outside my day job, I put that same organizing energy into Nanaimo community causes. I serve as Director and a Board Member at the Central Vancouver Island Multicultural Society, helping newcomers find the same welcome and opportunity that Nanaimo once gave me. I created NIAMI (The Picnic Party), a grassroots, wellness-focused event supporting local Nanaimo causes. I also work as a dance fitness instructor, putting my own commitment to community wellness into practice.
Now I am running for Nanaimo City Council, and bringing the same discipline to our local government I have brought to every project I have touched by setting measurable targets, putting a real deadline on it, getting to work, and reporting back to the public. I am running to help build a vibrant Nanaimo, one that is more affordable and equitable, healthier by design, accountable to its own commitments, and a genuine partner to the Snuneymuxw First Nation whose territory it sits on. Every person in this city deserves to live with dignity, not just get by.
- Calls Nanaimo home: 10+ years
- Career: Financial Controller, Tony Harris Group · Director, Tom Harris Community Foundation · Managing Partner, Revvin Creative & Studio West
- Community: Board Director, Central Vancouver Island Multicultural Society · Founder, NIAMI (The Picnic Party)
Platform
What Zaki Mohammed Will Fight For
A vibrant Nanaimo that's more affordable and equitable, healthier by design, accountable to its own commitments, and a genuine partner to the Snuneymuxw First Nation.
Affordability
"Fix what is driving up housing costs and make room for the childcare Nanaimo families actually need."
- Cut development permit times toward the city's own 12-week target (currently 20–30+ weeks)
- Push the city's below-market housing tools, zoning incentives and community-led non-market pilots
- Back food security programs already working: Loaves and Fishes, Food4Schools, Nanaimo Foodshare, farmers' markets, and partner with local producers while looking at a city-backed, not-for-profit grocery model
- Use the city's Zoning Bylaw Update to make it easier to open home and centre-based childcare (1 licensed space for every 10 children under 2 today)
Wellness & Culture
"Build a city where staying healthy, connected, and represented is the easy choice."
- Advocate for fair provincial resourcing for our hospital, while backing what's already proven for addiction, mental health, and supportive housing (Road to Recovery, Complex Care Housing) rather than inventing new policy
- Champion a wellness coordinating table, bringing schools, recreation, food, arts, health and climate experts together, with one long-term goal: making Nanaimo the healthiest city in Canada
- Grow the city's culture grants and champion inclusivity, so a vibrant, diverse Nanaimo is something the city actively builds
Accountability
"If City Hall says it will fix something, put a deadline on it and show your work."
- Publish real turnaround targets for major city processes and report progress on a regular, public schedule
- Bring transparent budgeting to City Hall
- Build real public input channels, including youth voice, with a clear process for how input gets used and a stated timeline for a response
Reconciliation
"Show up as a real, working partner to the Snuneymuxw First Nation."
- Be a responsive municipal partner as Snuneymuxw develops the Te'tuxwtun lands, and actively use the City's Protocol Agreement as a living framework for consultation and collaboration
- Follow through locally on relevant Truth and Reconciliation Calls to Action
- Bring consistent, hands-on engagement to the relationship, built over time
Support the Campaign
Donate to Zaki Mohammed
Every contribution helps get Zaki Mohammed's message to voters across Nanaimo, from lawn signs to local advertising.
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Get Involved
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Show Your Support
Get a Lawn Sign
A lawn sign is one of the simplest ways to show your neighbours you're backing Zaki Mohammed. Sign up and the campaign will arrange delivery and pickup after the election.