The Honourable Maryam Monsef was first elected in 2015 as the Member of Parliament for Peterborough—Kawartha.

Minister Monsef is a dedicated community organizer, a former Peterborough mayoral candidate, and a co-recipient of the YMCA’s Peace Medallion.

A passionate volunteer, Minister Monsef has sat on the boards and committees of several high-profile organizations. She was the Vice-President of the YWCA of Peterborough and Haliburton Board of Directors, and a former director of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group as well as the New Canadians Centre, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting immigrants, refugees, and other newcomers in the Peterborough and Northumberland regions.

Minister Monsef was also the co-founder of the Red Pashmina Campaign, a grassroots initiative she started while at Trent University, which has successfully raised over $150,000 to date to help support women in Afghanistan.

Minister Monsef has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Trent University, and speaks English, Farsi, and Dari.