"To help elevate FEZANA’s (Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America) awareness and reputation across the North American diaspora and around the world,” the post of chief communications officer (CCO) was introduced on September 3, 2020, as per a communique issued by the organization. Based on his years of dedication and frontline communications experience, 49-year-old Jamshed (Jim) Engineer, co-chair of FEZANA’s public relations committee, has been appointed the apex body’s first CCO.
Whilst helping "shape and influence FEZANA’s reputation in print, video and online media,” in his new role Engineer will articulate "principled position statements on issues, events and crises concerning FEZANA.” Working closely with the FEZANA executive, its committee chairs and other stakeholders, his functions include providing "strategic communications counsel and issues management; writing news releases and position statements; guest moderating the new FEZANA Talks podcasts; occasionally authoring articles in the FEZANA Journal; and coordinating media relations initiatives.
Engineer’s first major community involvement was at the time of the youth congress in Chicago in 1988 followed by the 1993 Parliament of the World’s Religions where he worked on the next generation plenary session. He referred to creating the Youthfully Speaking section of the FEZANA Journal and writing about "acceptance, interfaith marriage and disenfranchisement, among other issues that have polarized the community.”
Growing up near Hinsdale in suburban Chicago, under the mentorship of FEZANA founders Rohinton and Roshan Rivetna, "service to the community was engrained into our being during my high school/teenage years,” wrote Engineer, in response to
Parsiana’s queries. Another past president of FEZANA to have "mentored… and made a huge impact” on him was Rustom Kevala. He considers himself fortunate to have had a ringside view of the pioneers build local and pan-American Zarathushti associations and working groups to tackle challenges. "It was their navigation of complex issues, both locally and globally, that helped inform my perspective, inspire my writing and fuel my participation,” acknowledged Engineer who has recently served a two-year stint as secretary on the board of directors for the Zoroastrian Association of Metropolitan Chicago.
After working as a consultant for nearly 20 years launching early-stage information security start-ups, many of which are now cyber security market leaders, Engineer is currently working for one of the largest independent waste recycling and environmental sustainability companies in North America.
Engineer’s efforts to improve communications will run parallel to Tanya Hoshi’s who as FEZANA’s first chief social media officer devotes nearly an hour each day creating graphics and posters for new events and initiatives, interacts with other Zoroastrian related social media accounts, responds to emails from Zoroastrian associations and individuals, finds speakers for FEZANA hosted events, hosts FEZANA talks sessions on Zoom and Instagram Live videos with other Zoroastrians, and advises member associations on best social media practices to engage their members.
Twenty-eight-year-old Hoshi has been taking an active interest in FEZANA activities since 2017 after attending the Zoroastrian Return to Roots program that takes youth from the diaspora for a two-week educational trip to India to acquaint them with the practice of religion and culture there. "After that incredible experience I volunteered as a coordinator and social media manager for the 2018 and 2020 trips,” Hoshi conveyed to Parsiana.
As a child in Pakistan she participated in community activities and that continued until she was a teenager, graduating from religion classes in Toronto, conducted by the Zoroastrian Society of Ontario. After a lapse in participation when she was focused on her studies and building a career in the film industry, she got actively reinvolved with the Zoroastrian community when filming a short documentary on Mobedyar Mahshad Khosraviani. Like Engineer, she had attended the 2018 World Zoroastrian Youth Leaders Forum at the Asha Centre in England. She was also a panelist and speaker at the Seventh World Zoroastrian Youth Congress in Los Angeles last year.
"I am currently filming several Zoroastrian stories and releasing them online in order to share with the world our incredible community and the untold stories within. People can follow me on ‘Path of Asha’ to stay tuned for videos and posts,” she wrote. Holding a Bachelor of Arts degree with honors from the University of Toronto, an Advanced Television and Film Certificate from Sheridan College, and a Storytelling Certificate from Yale University, Hoshi is a film producer in Toronto. She works full-time as a producer at the e-commerce platform Shopify and also as a freelance producer. Recently she has been involved in producing her first feature film which is generously funded by Telefilm Canada.