Uzma Farooq

Uzma Farooq

Biography

Uzma Farooq is the Vice President of the Muslim Women’s Coalition (MWC) and Director of the Greater Washington DC Area office. MWC is a non-profit, faith-based organization dedicated to upholding the inherent Islamic values of democracy, equality, justice, and communal welfare by uniting American Muslim women seeking to serve the worldwide community with compassion and respect for all humanity. As an avid advocate for social justice, Ms. Farooq engages MWC members in a number of activities on local and international levels, including donating Ramadan Baskets to local abused women’s shelters and collecting aid for displaced women and children in Afghanistan. MWC also collected aid for Pakistan Earthquake Relief in 2005. In 2007, they launched “Women Care for Women’s Wellbeing,” an educational series meant to empower women on issues that affect them in the global community. To bridge the gap in understanding Islamic cultures, MWC provides a platform for interfaith dialogue at the grassroots level in the annual event, “A Day for Prayers and Talk.” Ms. Farooq is also a member at large on the Arlington Interfaith Council. She was also on the steering committee of the Women, Faith and Development Alliance that launched the Women’s World Summit in 2008, in addition to the planning committee for the annual Sacred Circles Conference at the National Cathedral. Ms. Farooq has delivered lectures regarding Islam and has been invited to attend conferences and seminars by governmental and non-governmental institutions like the State Department, the Department of Justice and USAID, the Hudson Institute, and Women Thrive Worldwide. She has participated in research on women’s role in society with the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, and has been interviewed by Voice of America. Her work has been published in Interaction’s Monday Developments magazine.