Ayesha A. Mattu is a writer, photographer, philanthropy consultant, and board member of the Muslim Women’s Fund. Ms. Mattu is a founding board member for the Muslim Women’s Fund, the first fund solely focused on serving 600 million Muslim women worldwide. She also serves on the board of the Women’s Funding Network (WFN), a coalition of 130 women’s organizations around the world.
Ms. Mattu has worked in Pakistan at Sahil, where she helped to address the controversial issue of child sexual abuse in a Muslim country. She then moved to Boston where she joined Grassroots International in supporting social justice organizations in six countries. She then worked at the Global Fund for Women in San Francisco, raising significant funds to disburse to women’s organizations in 167 countries. She also served on the International Development Exchange (IDEX) board.
Ms. Mattu has raised millions of foundation dollars for global human rights issues over the past 12 years. Through her work she supports issues including women’s human rights, reproductive health, economic security, and access to education. Her work focuses on marginalized, minority, and indigenous women in the Global South. She has an award-winning blog, and is the co-editor for the upcoming Muslim-American women’s anthology Love, Insh’Allah.
Photo From
https://bookamuslim.com/ayesha-mattu/
Dr. Azza Karam serves as the Senior Culture Advisor at the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), where she coordinates Fund-wide global activities on Culture and Religion. Prior to joining UNFPA, she was the Senior Policy Research Advisor at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), in the Regional Bureau for Arab States where she worked on the Arab Human Development Reports, among other portfolios including Knowledge and youth.
Her programmatic experience spans the fields of global multi-religious collaboration, gender issues, governance, human rights, conflict, and political Islam.
Prior to joining the UN, Dr. Karam worked at the World Conference of Religions for Peace where she founded the first Global Women of Faith Network, and advised on issues related to Muslim and Arab affairs. Also during this time, she served as the President of the Committee of Religious NGOs at the United Nations. She was a Senior Program Officer at the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) where she set up the Arab world and the Women in Politics programmes. She has served as Lecturer at the School of Politics at the Queens University of Belfast, and in Development, Conflict and Humanitarian issues at the University of Amsterdam, among others. She also served as consultant/trainer to the UNDP, OSCE and other international organizations, in the Arab region, Central Asia and Europe.
She has authored and edited several books and published numerous articles in several languages. Her books include Transnational Political Islam (Pluto, 2004); Islamisms, Women and the State (Macmillan, 1998); Women in Parliament: Beyond Numbers (IIDEA, 1998 and 2007); and a Woman’s Place: Religions Women as Public Actors (WCRP: 2002).
Photo From
https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/people/azza-karam
Shireen Zaman is the Program Director of the Security & Rights Collaborative at Proteus Fund. She was the Director for the Middle East and North Africa at Vital Voices Global Partnership. At Vital Voices, she manages a multi-country program focusing on the development of public-private partnerships and corporate responsibility initiatives to support women’s progress in the region. She also works on supporting the MENA Businesswomen’s Network, whose goal is to increase the number of women in business, increase the value of their businesses, advance the role of women in society, and promote a regional culture of women’s entrepreneurship across the MENA region. Ms. Zaman has also worked on developing programs focusing on women’s roles in peace building in Israel/Palestine and a transnational program focusing on women’s rights in the region.
She completed her Masters degree at the School of International Service at American University in Washington, DC in 2006. Ms. Zaman has worked with the Office of Iraq Political Affairs at the U.S. Department of State where she focused on Iraqi women and civil society development. She lived in Egypt, where she attended the Arabic Language Institute at the American University based in Cairo and worked with the Transnational Broadcast Studies journal there. Ms. Zaman holds a B.A. in Human Development from Boston College.
Christina Safiya Tobias-Nahi is Director of Public Affairs for Islamic Relief USA in Washington, D.C. Her work focuses on governmental affairs and interfaith coalition building, mainly in the greater DC area. She was selected as a delegate for the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies global consultation held in Turkey this past spring.
Ms. Tobias-Nahi taught comparative religion and religion and politics at Tufts University, where she participated in setting up an interfaith youth program. She also worked with the Civil Rights Project and Islamic Legal Studies Program at Harvard University.
While at Harvard University, Ms. Tobias-Nahi was there on 9/11 and as a consequence asked to write a reflective piece for the Boston Globe. She has co-authored a chapter in Invisible Children in the Society and the Schools (2003, 2007 Lawrence Erlbaum), and a chapter in Educating the Muslims of America (2009, Oxford University Press). Another co-authored chapter is forthcoming later in 2009.
Ms. Tobias-Nahi received an M.A. in International Relations from Boston University-Paris Overseas Graduate Center and lived in France for many years. She also pursued a Master of Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons is an Assistant Professor of Religion at the University of Florida whose areas of focus in her teaching, research and writing include Women and Islam, Muslims in America, and African American Muslims. Dr. Simmons’ publications include the following: “Striving for Muslim Women’s Human Rights – Before and Beyond Beijing,” in Windows of Faith: Muslim Women Scholar-Activists in North America (ed. by Gisela Webb, 2000); “Are We Up to The Challenge: The Need for a Radical Re-ordering of the Islamic Discourse on Women,” in Progressive Muslims (ed. by Omid Safi, 2003); “African American Islam as an Expression of Converts’ Religious Faith and Nationalist Dreams and Ambitions,” in Women Embracing Islam: Gender and Conversion in the West (ed. by Karin Neukirk, 2006); “From Muslims in America to American Muslims,” in the Journal of Islamic Law and Culture (Fall 2008). Currently, she is negotiating a book contract for her manuscript, Muslim Feminism: A Call for Reform with NYU Press and is under contract for a book: Islam Does not Equal Fundamentalism with the New Press for the Winter, 2010.
Prior to her academic work, Dr. Simmons worked for years in the areas of peace, civil and human rights, working in the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee during the Civil Rights Movement and for twenty-three years as staff at the American Friends Service Committee, a Quaker peace, justice, human rights and international development organization.
Dr. Simmons received her Ph.D. & M.A. in Islamic Studies from Temple University. Her dissertation research on The Impact of Islamic Law on Women in Jordan was conducted in Jordan while on Fulbright and NMERTA fellowships, 1996-98.
Sayyeda Mirza-Jafri is currently a Strategic Philanthropy Consultant and works with foundations, individual philanthropists and NGO’s across the United States. Ms. Mirza-Jafri was the Project Manager for One Nation- with Liberty and Justice for All (ON) for 3 and a half years, a philanthropic collaborative aimed at reframing perceptions of Islam and Muslims in America. This project, housed at the Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), focuses on multimedia, strategic communications, policy and civic engagement initiatives.
Prior to One Nation Ms. Mirza-Jafri was engaged in developing a Middle East and North African leadership program for the EastWest Institute (EWI). Prior to EWI, she served as Program Associate for the Bridging Leadership Program at the Synergos Institute. Additional endeavors include foreign policy work experience at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR). At the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) she focused on the Middle East and North Africa. Furthermore, her background in international economic development, specifically microfinance, working for the Grameen Bank/Trust in Bangladesh and India are also to be noted.
Mrs. Mirza-Jafri was born and raised in the United States and graduated cum laude from New York University (NYU) with a BA in International Politics and Middle East Studies. Her honors thesis focused on Islamic reformist feminist thought in Iran. She obtained a Masters degree in International Political Economy (PWE MSc) from the London School of Economics with a concentration on issues of economic development, investment and political barriers in developing countries to growth (specifically in the Middle East and North Africa). Her language skills at various levels include: Arabic, Bengali, Hindi, Persian, Spanish, Urdu and French.
Mariama Shaheed-Carson is a professional educator who currently works as an assistant principal in one of the most diverse school districts in the state of Indiana. Prior to working as a school administrator, she taught 4th and 5th grade for 10 years. Ms. Shaheed-Carson is a nationally recognized educator receiving the Milken National Educator award, an award presented to only 100 educators in the country for education innovations both in and outside of the classroom. She has a deep commitment to equality in public education and work with educators across the globe examining education practices and delivery of educational services to students and their families. Her work has allowed her the opportunity to travel to South Africa, Tunisia, Mexico, and Guatemala. She was married to Andre Carson, the second Muslim to be elected to the United States House of Representatives. They are the proud parents of a 2 1/2 year old daughter, Salimah Iman Carson.
Norhayati Kaprawi is a Muslim woman activist interested in exploring the use of popular media in promoting Muslim women’s rights and in promoting progressive thinking in Islam. She is also documentary filmmaker and program manager at Sisters in Islam.
