Aref is the founder of Amanat Law, a group of innovators who work to bring people together, to address historical wrongs, and to accelerate processes of integration and community development. With a background in law, policy, and business, Aref helps resolve challenging and complex problems, often with an international dimension.

Aref has degrees from McGill University’s Faculty of Law and has worked in Ottawa for the Supreme Court of Canada, in Tanzania for the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, in New York City for a leading law firm, and in Shanghai as General Counsel of a multinational Fortune 500 company. In his current practice in Vancouver he serves First Nations governments, charitable organizations and investment funds focused on social impact. He has held teaching positions at Columbia University Law School and East China University of Politics and Law.

Aref is a member of the bars of New York and British Columbia and speaks Persian, French and Mandarin.