Muslim Women Archive | Page 30 of 79

Maha ElShinnawy

Maha ElShinnawy is the director of Goldman Sachs Women’s Entrepreneurship and Leadership (WEL) Center. The center is a cooperative project among investment firm Goldman Sachs, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, and the American University in Cairo, where Maha is a professor. Part of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women initiative, the WEL Center’s mission is to “enhance the business knowledge and leadership skills of Arab women entrepreneurs and to serve as a research and resource center for women’s leadership and entrepreneurial empowerment in the region.”¹

Maha graduated in 1984 from the American University in Cairo (AUC) summa cum laude, earning her bachelor’s degree in business administration. She received a master’s degree in business administration two years later from the same institution before going on to pursue a doctorate degree in management at the Anderson School at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Maha’s research there earned her a spot among the finalists for the Institute of Management Science’s Best Dissertation Award.

Upon completing her graduate studies, Maha joined the faculty of Texas A&M University as an assistant professor in the Department of Business Analysis and Research. She became a tenured associate professor in 1998. In 2004, she became an associate professor in the Department of Management at the American University in Cairo, becoming first a tenured professor three years later and then the Brown Chair in International Leadership in that department. In addition to her present position as director of the WEL Center that she took in 2008, she also served as the associate dean of Graduate Studies and Research at the American University in Cairo from 2009 to 2010.

She has contributed to leading journals and presented her work around the world, earning her international recognition. Her expertise in leadership, gender, change management, and group dynamics has not only garnered respect in academia, but led to the creation of economic opportunities for thousands of underprivileged women throughout the Arab world.² The WEL Center teaches skills in areas from leadership to business management to writing and communication and recently offered instruction in Arabic for the first time. Under Maha’s direction, the WEL Center has graduated six classes of female entrepreneurs. The center has also introduced one-one-one mentoring sessions with faculty and experts to further develop the potential of participants. For her many achievements, including her work at the WEL Center, Maha was named one of ArabianBusiness.com’s 100 Most Powerful Arab Women.

[1] WEL Center: Mission and Vision
[2] ArabianBusiness.com: 100 Most Powerful Arab Women

Photo Attributed to

Sakena Yacoobi

Sakena Yacoobi founded the Afghan Institute of Learning (AIL) in 1995 to help increase literacy rates and improve the overall quality of education in her native country.¹ This has proven to be an immense and dangerous undertaking.

During the six-year rule of the Taliban, any institution or individual appearing to be influenced by Western culture was subject to attack by militants.² And although, the Taliban are no longer in power, the risk of violence has not completely diminished. Despite the adverse conditions, Sakeena presses on.³

Born in Herat, Afghanistan, Sakena was raised by parents who encouraged her pursuit of education, a rare opportunity for women in the region.⁴ Until 1992, she led a comfortable life as an Afghan immigrant and teacher in the US when she visited Afghan refugee camps in Pakistan. Upon seeing the conditions of the women and children there, she decided to dedicate her life to their cause.⁵

Sakena was inducted into the inaugural Enterprising Women’s Hall of Fame in 2011 for her work with AIL. She was nominated by Oklahoma City businesswoman and founder of the Institute for Economic Improvement for Women, Terry Neese, who remarked, “Her visionary work is an example to everyone that women can persevere through the most challenging times to help build their country and educate their people.”⁶

She is also a recipient of the Gruber Prize for Women’s Rights and a Nobel Peace Prize nominee.⁷

[1] Architects of Peace Foundation: Sakeena Yacoobi.
[2] Architects of Peace Foundation: Sakeena Yacoobi.
[3] YouTube: Sakeena Yacoobi Seeks to Improve Afghan Women’s Lives
[4] Architects of Peace Foundation: Sakeena Yacoobi.
[5] YouTube: Sakeena Yacoobi Seeks to Improve Afghan Women’s Lives
[6] NewsOK: OK businesswoman Terry Neese inducts Afghan woman into hall of fame for enterprising women
[7] Architects of Peace Foundation: Sakeena Yacoobi.
[8] Architects of Peace Foundation: Sakeena Yacoobi.

Nadia Janjua

Nadia Janjua is a freelance artist, architect, and entrepreneur in the Washington DC area. In addition to the work she does at her own architectural design firm, NJArtitecture, she works in a wide range of media, including photography, painting, and sketching.¹

The scope of her architectural designs is diverse: Nadia’s portfolio not only includes designs for homes, but also a mosque and educational facilities. She has also contributed her expertise to relief work as well. Shortly after the earthquake in 2005, Nadia traveled to Rawalpindi, Pakistan to help train local laborers and army workers on how to build safer housing structures to better withstand future earthquakes. After their training they were dispatched to areas in Kashmir and the North West Frontier Province to train others.²

Nadia credits her parents for playing a very supportive role in her development. As a teenager, her father gave her a book entitled, “The Art Spirit” in which “To Nadia, from Proud Parents” was inscribed. It still means the world to her to this day.³

She believes that support for art is rising up in the Muslim community as a growing number of venues and events are including components of art into their programs and artists are independently pursuing art careers.⁴

Nadia earned her Masters in Architecture from the New Jersey Institute of Technology and is part of Muslim Women in the Arts (MWIA), a network of Muslim women artists.

[1] Nadia Janjua, Artist and Architectural Designer: Profile.
[2] Nadia Janjua, Artist and Architectural Designer: Architecture.
[3] Introversed – Spirit of the Artist: An Interview with Nadia Janjua.
[4] Introversed – Spirit of the Artist: An Interview with Nadia Janjua.
[5] Introversed – Spirit of the Artist: An Interview with Nadia Janjua.

Ingrid Mattson

Dr. Ingrid Mattson is the first female, first person born in North America, and first convert to lead the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA).¹ In 2001, she was elected vice president of ISNA and in 2006 she was elected president.²

Born in Canada and raised a Roman Catholic, Dr. Mattson grew up attending mass daily. But as a teenager, she felt she no longer believed in the God they talked about in church. A few years later, Dr. Mattson became intrigued by the generosity, dignity and sense of balance she observed in some Muslim friends even as they faced prejudice. The first time she prayed the salat, the ritual Muslim prayer of bowing and prostration, she felt the closeness with God she thought she had lost. Then, at the age of 23, she embraced Islam and began to wear the hijab.³ She later married and now lives with her husband and two children in Hartford, Connecticut.⁴

In 1987, she completed her studies in philosophy at the University of Waterloo, Ontario.⁵ She then traveled to Pakistan and worked with Afghan refugee women from 1987 to 1988. In 1995, she served as advisory to the Afghan delegation to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women.⁶

Dr. Mattson received her Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from the University of Chicago in 1999. Her research focused on Islamic law and society.⁷

She is currently the director of the Macdonald Center for the Study of Islam and Christian-Muslim Relations and professor of Islamic Studies and Christian-Muslim Relations at Hartford Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut.⁸

[1] Newsweek: Ingrid Mattson.
[2] Duncan Black Macdonald Center – Faculty: Ingrid Mattson.
[3] Newsweek: Ingrid Mattson.
[4] Newsweek: Ingrid Mattson.
[5] Duncan Black Macdonald Center – Faculty: Ingrid Mattson.
[6] Islamic Society of North America: Ingrid Mattson.
[7] Duncan Black Macdonald Center – Faculty: Ingrid Mattson.
[8] Duncan Black Macdonald Center – Faculty: Ingrid Mattson.
[9] Beliefnet – “We Are What We Do”.

Tahira Khan

Born and raised in Pakistan, Tahira Khan has written extensively on gender and Islam, gender and politics, and violence against women.¹ Tahira earned a Ph.D. in International Studies from the University of Denver and an MA in political science from Villanova University in Pennsylvania. She has led several workshops on gender studies and held numerous lectures on feminist theory and human rights approaches.

Tahira is known for her book, Beyond Honour: A Historical Materialist Explanation of Honour-related Violence, which considers honor killings from a Marxist Historical Materialist perspective. Her work attempts to explain the presence, or absence, of honor killings in Muslim societies as motivated by socio-cultural factors other than the cultural notion of honor.² Published in 2006, the book presents a broad overview of honor killings from ancient civilizations to contemporary societies and pays particular attention to Pakistan.³ The study blends academic research with the narratives of the victims of gender related violence and Tahira’s own stories as well.

In addition to her academic work, Tahira integrates her research with feminist activism. She has worked with the Asian Pacific Women, Law and Development Forum (APWLD), Chiangmai since 1997, and she is also the Convener of the Women’s Participation in Political Processes (WPPP). In 2003, she was elected vice president of the Irteqa Institute of Social Sciences, Karachi.⁴

[1] http://www.naropa.edu/ebadi/bios.cfm“>“Biographies,” Naropa University.
[2] “Tahira S. Khan: Beyond honour: A Historical Materialist Explanation of Honour-related Violence,” Global Sisterhood Network.
[3] Ibid.
[4] “Biographies,” Naropa University.

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala

Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was appointed the first female Nigerian Minister of Finance by President Olusegun Obasanjo in 2003 and served until 2006. In June of 2006 she became Minister of Foreign Affairs, but was let go from the position in August of 2007, while continuing as Head of the Economic Reform Team. Under her direction over three years the team devised and implemented a comprehensive reform program that stabilized Nigeria’s economy before tripling its growth rate.

In 2003 this mother of four took on the momentous task of resolving Nigeria’s disastrous financial situation caused by its corrupt government, having exported $20 billion worth of oil the previous year yet still leaving its people to survive on an average dollar-a-day income. Ranked the second most corrupt location in the world after Bangladesh by Transparency International, Nigeria’s oil money is often lost to bribes, its economy having been mishandled for years. Olusegun Obasanjo, former Harvard and M.I.T. student, set out to ensure that more of these funds went to essential public services such as roads, schools, and health care. She began by cutting back its excessive civil service and fuel expenses, and systematically accounting for government spending. To prosecute internet banking scammers who cheat pensioners, she helped establish an antifraud team that caught 500 in its first year. When the discontented President Obasanjo declared his removal of the key budget and planning departments from her bureau, Okonjo-Iweala held her ground by quitting, and came back to the position only when he agreed to restore these branches.

Asserting that enhancing Nigeria’s image is just as important as reforming its economy, her feats as Finance Minister gained international recognition for boosting its financial stability and cultivating more financial responsibility to fight corruption. In October of 2005 she led the team that negotiated the cancellation of 60 percent of Nigeria’s external debt with the Paris Club. Comprised of a pioneering buy-back mechanism, the debt deal cleared the Paris Club debt and reduced the country’s overall debt from $35 billion to $5 billion. In addition Okonjo-Iweala supervised Nigeria’s first Sovereign credit rating of BB from Fitch and Standard and Poor’s.

Before the Ministry she led a 21-year career as a World Bank development economist, serving as Vice President and Corporate Secretary, and toured both the East Asia and Middle East regions to implement reform agendas during financial crises and facilitate involvement in high level policy discussions.

Okonjo-Iweala attended Harvard before earning a PhD in Regional Economics and Development from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and fluently speaks French, Ibo and English with functioning knowledge of Yoruba. Her numerous awards include: Honorary Doctorate of Letters from University of Dublin, Trinity College, 2007, Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Colby College, 2007 and Brown University, 2006, Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Northern Caribbean University, Mandeville, Jamaica, 2005, TIME Magazine’s European Hero of the Year Award, 2004, for her work on economic reform in Nigeria, Euromoney Magazine Global Finance Minister of the year, 2005, Financial Times/The Banker African Finance Minister of the year 2005, This Day Minister of the Year award 2004 and 2005.

Okonjo-Iweala is on numerous boards and advisory groups, has advised several international investments groups, and lectured internationally on Africa and development. She founded NOI Polls, Nigeria’s first indigenous opinion research organization, and co-founded the Makeda fund to support women entrepreneurs in Africa.

Shahien Taj

Shahien Taj is the Founder & Executive Director of Henna Foundation, formally known as Saheli, a specialist user-led agency and registered charity established to advance the needs, concerns and aspirations of Asian and Muslim children and families.

Committed to equality, human rights principles and encouraging the nurture and social advancement of positive family environments, Taj has acquired a practice based specialist understanding in tackling the issues of ‘honour’ related abuses and Forced Marriages and developed reciprocal engagement and dialogue amongst affected grassroots community groups. She has established positive working relations with a cross-section of services including the Foreign & Commonwealth office, Forced Marriage unit, Police Constabularies, Crown Prosecution Service along with numerous other statutory and voluntary agencies and services.

Funded by the Equality & Human Rights Commission, Taj developed the ‘honour’ based violence & Forced Marriage Knowledge Centre and Directory. This one stop portal of information is an online facility that provides real time information to both victims and cross-sector service providers. Taj previously contributed to the nationwide schools training program, “Watch Over Me lll” (Forced Marriage) soap opera, assisting in the development of ACPO’s (Association of Chief Police Officers) HBV & Forced Marriage training DVD for Police Officers (Her Choice…Your duty to protect) and also in partnership with South Wales Police and BMER NGOs was a key contributor in the development and implementation of a Forced Marriage and HBV Risk assessment & Protection Plan.

Experienced in networking and developing effective communicative partnerships, on a number of initiatives, Taj liaises with the Welsh Assembly Government, Department for Communities & Local Govt, Home Office, Ministry of Justice, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Her engagement with the private, public and voluntary sectors has attracted many accolades.

She is an appointed Commissioner to the British Muslims and Islamophobia Commission, member of the National Muslim Women’s Advisory group, assembled by the former Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Rt. Honourable Hazel Blears and also involved in the House of Commons, Cross Parliamentary Group – Friends of Islam. In 2005 she was invited to join the Home office, Preventing Extremism Together: Working Groups and co-authored the report on engaging with Muslim women “Working together to prevent extremism”. The same year, commissioned by the Welsh Assembly Government, Taj led the Muslim Women Talk Campaign: Wales. Having engaged the opinions of over 600 contributors, she prepared the Muslim Women Talk Campaign: Wales report, launched in 2007.

Taj’s accolades include lifetime membership of the Millennium Awards Fellowship,recipient of the Nationwide Building Society Award for Voluntary Endeavour 2002 and awarded an MBE in the Queen’s birthday honours list 2008. In 2009, on behalf of Henna Foundation, Taj received a letter of commendation from the Association of Chief Police Officers for the outstanding contribution made towards furthering the UK’s response to forced marriage and ‘honour’ based violence. Most recently Taj was honoured by First Minister, Carwyn Jones and presented with the “Recognising Achievement” Award.

Mahveen Hussain

Mahveen Hussain, M.D. has been a medical director with AseraCare Hospice for five years. In addition to blogging as a national expert on hospice issues for AseraCare, she is responsible for leading and directing AseraCare’s hospice agency based in Stockton, California. As medical director, she feels “honored” to be part of a team that helps people at what is probably the most difficult, yet often most meaningful time in their lives.

Her goal is to ensure her team is providing the highest quality of care and service to AseraCare’s patients and their families. Dr. Hussain is board-certified in both Hospice and Palliative Medicine and Internal Medicine. She is a member of the American Association of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.

Dr. Hussain received her undergraduate degree in biochemistry at UCLA, and earned her medical degree at New York Medical College. She performed her residency in Internal Medicine at Loma Linda University Medical Center.