Adriana Kaplan is a Senior Professor in the Department of Social Anthropology, Universitat Autònoma of Barcelona (UAB), where she lectures on Medical Anthropology and Gender and Development Studies. Prof. Kaplan also coordinates a course on Medical Anthropology at UAB’s Master of Tropical Medicine and contributes as a professor of Gender and Development in Africa at the Master of Cooperation for Development. She has lectured in different universities throughout Europe and Mexico. Her major fieldwork has been in West Africa since 1989 on issues concerning health, nutrition, reproductive and sexual health.
In the Gambia, Prof. Kaplan is heading an applied research center for health professionals and students on female genital mutilation (FGM). In Spain, she carried out research on the African migrations and the social integration process and health-related issues from a gender perspective. Furthermore, she has advised and collaborated with public administrations on social integration policies in the fields of gender, migration, health and development. During the past few years, Prof. Kaplan has acted as an international consultant on FGM-related issues and participated in several European projects as a regional coordinator. She has been responsible for creating guides for professionals on the prevention of FGM, and recently, she organised the International Forum on Harmful Traditional Practices in The Gambia. She is also Executive Director of the NGO Wassu Gambia Kafo.
Born in Argentina, Prof. Kaplan directed the documentary on FGM, Initiation without Mutilation. Among her major publications include, De Senegambia a Cataluña: Procesos de Aculturación e Integración Social (1998), which was awarded the X Research Award on Social Science by “la Caixa” Foundation. In 2008, she was granted the International Solidarity Award by the government of Navarra, Spain.
Abida Malik is Senior Vice President of the Behbud Association of Pakistan, a non-profit organization working for the uplifting of underprivileged women and children, regardless of color, creed, or caste. Ms. Malik has been working with Behbud for the last fifteen years, and as Vice President, she oversees all Behbud projects, which include health, education, vocational training, community development, and fundraising. Previously, she was a designer for the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, helping women create new designs and color schemes, thus improving their skills for income generation.
In 2004, Ms. Malik actively participated in relief efforts for the earthquake-hit areas of Pakistan. She helped provide Shelter Homes and supplies for the daily living and survival of the affected families, generating all the funds from local fundraising efforts. In all her work, she has helped empower women with the skills for income-generation, in order to make them self-sufficient and valuable members of society. Apart from giving the women vocational training, she also educates them on how to be tolerant and respect other religions and sects.
Abida Mahmood is an administrator and teacher trainer at the Qurban & Surraya Educational Trust in Lahore, Pakistan, a trust established by her father in 1980. The Trust has four schools and one degree college for girls and caters to 4,500 pupils. These schools and college provide quality education to the poor at the lowest possible cost and all orphans and needy are educated free. Ms. Mahmood is also a trustee of Qurban & Surraya Educational Trust and her voluntary services reach beyond her institution, as her unique model of teacher training led Punjab University’s Institute of Education and Research to send their teacher trainees to the Trust for training since 2006.
Ms. Mahmood is also the general secretary of Pakistan Education Watch (PEW), a registered voluntary NGO aiming to bring change in the field of education. Settling in Lahore with the vision of imparting quality teacher training to Pakistani teacher, she believes that teachers are the basic players in the field of education and need the best of coaching. She has presented many papers nationally and internationally, and represented Pakistan at the International Bureau of Education conference in 2004. The books that she has developed for teachers are a great source of inspiration for all and have been appreciated by the Ministry of Education of Punjab. Ms Mahmood has been in Pakistan since 2002 but spends her summer months teaching and training in UK.
Queen Rania has been an enthusiastic supporter and advocate of women’s empowerment and children’s rights. She is an active philanthropist involved with numerous non-profits and UN agencies.
Queen Rania was born to Palestinian parents in Kuwait, where she completed her primary education. She received her college degree in Business Administration from the American University in Cairo. After graduating, she worked for Apple and Citibank. In 1993 she met and married King Abdullah II of Jordan, who was then a prince. He succeeded his father as King of Jordan in 1999.
Queen Rania’s philanthropic work focuses on gender equality, children’s rights, and micro-finance. Through the Madrasati Initiative, Queen Rania aims to improve the quality of Jordan’s public schools. She serves on the board of the Foundation for International Community Assistance (FINCA), which helps the world’s poor gain easier access to basic financial services. Queen Rania is also the chair of the Board of Trustees of the Jordan River Foundation, whose mission is to improve the wellbeing of Jordanian society through economic development and youth projects. In addition, she is also a board member of the World Economic Forum and the United Nations Foundation.
In 2008, Queen Rania launched her own YouTube site, which she uses to dispel misconceptions about Islam and women in Islam by, for example, posting videos on development and social justice issues. Her YouTube site has millions of viewers.
Queen Noor is a dowager Queen whose philanthropic work is global in scope. She works with various non-profits and organizations on a wide range of topics from refugee issues to environmental protection to international women’s rights issues.
Born Lisa Najeeb Halaby, she graduated from Princeton University with a degree in architecture and urban planning. She began her career working on international urban planning projects in the United States, Middle East and Australia. She met King Hussein of Jordan while she was working on developing the Amman Airport. She converted to Islam and married King Hussein in 1978, whereupon her name became “Noor al-Hussein,” or “Light of Hussein.” They had four children together.
Queen Noor is currently the president of the United World of Colleges, an organization that promotes cross-cultural understanding through education. She is a board member of Refugees International and a trustee of the Aspen Institute, among others. Queen Noor is also involved with Seeds of Peace, a non-profit that works with youth from conflict areas to encourage coexistence and peace.
Queen Noor’s work in Jordan includes the Noor Al-Hussein Foundation (NHF), which she chairs. NHF focuses on supporting economic development initiatives, including micro-finance and health programs.
Asma Afsaruddin is Professor of Islamic Studies in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures at Indiana University, Bloomington. Professor Afsaruddin’s fields of specialization are the religious and political thought of Islam, Qur’anic hermeneutics and hadith, and gender. She has previously taught at both Harvard University and the University of Notre Dame. In fall 2003, Professor Afsaruddin was a visiting scholar at the Centre for Islamic Studies at the School for Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), London, UK.
Professor Afsaruddin is the author and/or editor of four books, including The First Muslims: History and Memory and Excellence and Precedence: Medieval Islamic Discourse on Legitimate Leadership. She has also written over fifty research articles, book chapters, and encyclopedia entries on various aspects of Islamic thought and has lectured widely in the US, Europe, and the Middle East.
Professor Afsaruddin is currently chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Center for the Study of Islam and Democracy in Washington, D.C. She frequently consults with US governmental and private agencies on contemporary Islamic movements, inter-faith, and gender issues. Among her current research projects is a book manuscript about competing perspectives on jihad and martyrdom in pre-modern and modern Islamic thought. Professor Afsaruddin’s research has won funding from the American Research Institute of Turkey, the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
Born in pre-revolution Iran, Anousheh Ansari immigrated to the United States as a teenager. Soon after receiving her master’s degree in electrical engineering from George Washington University, she began working at MCI.
In 1993, Anousheh and her husband founded the telecommunications company, Telecom Technologies, Inc which was later sold to Sonus Network, Inc. In 2004, she and her family made a multi-million dollar donation to the X PRIZE Foundation, which promotes innovation regarding social and environmental issues. Subsequently, the X-PRIZE award that supports private space exploration and space craft design was officially renamed the Ansari X PRIZE.
In 2006, Anousheh became the first Muslim female in space, when she blasted off in the Soyuz TMA-9, through Space Adventures, Ltd. She is only one of a handful of self-funded spaceflight participants and the first private female space explorer. She has conducted multiple experiments while at the International Space Station. Anousheh is the first person to contribute to a blog from space.
She is the recipient of multiple awards and was one of only two women listed by Fortune Magazine’s “40 under 40” list in 2001.
To learn more about Anousheh Ansari, visit www.anoushehansari.com.
Afra Jalabi is a Montreal based writer whose interests revolve around language, theology of nonresistance, Quranic hermeneutics and power with a focus on nonviolent resistance. She has worked closely with her uncle, Jawdat Said, a prominent Islamic scholar who has written on nonviolence and Quranic themes.
She is a Ph.D candidate in the Department of Religions and Cultures at Concordia University. Her dissertation focuses on philosophical hermeneutics and aims to revitalize and rehabilitate Hans-Georg Gadamar’s notion of dialogue by emphasizing, not just “the relevance of the beautiful,” but the relevance of power in contexts of political asymmetry.
She has also done work with George Mason University and NGOs — helping develop curriculum, trainings, and online classes for refugees in different parts of the world, with a focus on Syrian refugees.
