#9. Zain Velji (CBC, @StrategistsPod)

DEEKAST #9 Zain Velji is a Senior Engagement Strategists specializing in campaign strategy, grassroots advocacy and behavioural economics. Zain is the co-creator and host of the highly-rated political podcast, The Strategists which dissects the strategies of political campaigns, parties and governments and is the inspiration of the CBC Television and Radio panel of the same name that Zain appears on weekly. Zain brings more than a decade of public policy, political strategy and technology experience, while holding senior positions on several political campaigns in Canada and in the United States, while also working on the campaigns of Naheed Nenshi, the 2008 and 2012 Obama campaigns and the 2012 campaign of US Senator Elizabeth Warren.