Uncategorized

Maryam Laly: Space for Women, Space for Learning Maryum’s story revolves around the pursuit of education and the drive to learn.  Her work in social justice seeks to empower women through advocacy and educational opportunity.  Here she discusses her journey to self-realization, actualization, and the never-ending pursuit of knowledge. Like many in my generation, I […]

Edura Berrini founded Lakugems/Edura Shezrin Jewelry in 2018. Edura is proud of her Malaysian heritage and shares her journey and her unconventional path to becoming a Jeweler. People ask me all the time what Edura means because it’s a very unique name and sometimes I answer that in Spanish Edura means tough or Edura in

Hassan came to the U.S. with his mother and his sister when he was very young. In his story he describes his experience with prejudice, racism, and struggle. Through all of this, Hassan has refused to be a victim; the fear of failure does not stop him from striving to achieve his dreams. Blessings, Luck,

I remember always watching hairstyle tutorials when I was younger, absolutely fascinated with how I could express myself through curls or pigtail braids. That’s why when I faced with wearing a hijab, I was petrified, and the decision was an excruciatingly tough one. Hijab was a symbol of modesty that screamed of horrifying uniqueness and

Reem is one of many ambitious and remarkable young leaders who applied for MALA’s Scholarship Program in 2018-2019. To learn more about MALA’s scholarship opportunities, click here. Riding the bus on a rainy day, I aimlessly starred at the water droplets run down my window. My focus suddenly skewed towards one specific raindrop. I watched

At a young age, Zena and Mena Nasiri realized that their community libraries did not have books that represented Muslim Women. In an effort to change this, and to enrich other community libraries with books that focused on Muslim women in story, they founded Girls of the Crescent, a nonprofit organization that collects and distributes

Coming to America at 10 years old with little knowledge of what life would be like outside Singapore, I blindly but confidently followed my mother and sister on this journey. While our moving experience was not to flee the country but rather to start afresh seeking new opportunities, I was reluctant to make the move.

I was born in Bangladesh, a country in Southeast Asia with a population of more than 160 million. Around 90% of the population in Bangladesh is Muslim, rest are Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians. As a Muslim in a secular Muslim majority country, I came to know a lot about my religion, as well as learned

Kara Lozier lives in Vermont and is the founder of ROYA – Resources of Young Afghans, through which she has been counseling, mentoring and supporting young Afghans in various ways. From 2006-2011, she served as a community coordinator for mostly Muslim exchange students from countries in Africa, Asia, Central Asia, Europe, and Eastern Europe. I

Samira Sadeque: To See In Infinites — How I Use Storytelling to Unlearn the World Samira Sadeque is a New York-based Bangladeshi journalist and poet focusing on migration, the refugee community, gender, and mental health. She completed her M.S. in Journalism from Columbia Journalism School in 2017. Her work appears in Reuters, NPR, Al Jazeera,