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Dr. Shahnaz Khan is a physician and Founding Member of Pakistani American Association of Tampa Bay. She served on the Board of PAKPAC, and is also a Founding Member of the Human Development Foundation. She is a Life Member of APPNA, past President of FJMC Alumni, Founding Member and past President of APPNA FL Chapter, […]

Nangyalai Attal is a UN Youth Courage Award Recipient, and an advocate for global education. His inspiring StoryCorps recording session for “Muslim American Journeys” can be heard via the audio player at the bottom of the page.   I was born in the Khawat Valley, 60 miles south of Kabul,  Afghanistan. I went from being a shepherd to

Omar Al-Fotihi is a human rights advocate, investigative journalist, and filmmaker originally from Yemen. He works at Human Rights Watch as Assistant Creative Coordinator for Development and Global Initiatives. In The Alchemist, a best-selling novel by Brazilian writer Paulo Coelho, Santiago the shepherd sets off on a journey to a land beyond the sea. His

Omnia Hegazy is a musician and song-writer. She grew up in New York City. A citizen of the world, with a passion for music and storytelling, Omnia shares her unique narrative incorporating music, mixed heritage, belonging, and identity. I am an American of many identities. My father is an Egyptian Muslim and my mother is Brooklynese,

Sabah Fakhoury is a Dearborn, Michigan native, CEO and Founder at Sabah Communications. She is an observer, writer,  reporter and a communicator of trends, ideas and issues in business, education, and religion that crosses geographical boundaries. It took me 35+ years of struggling to overcome what I saw as abuses within my own family, in

A native of Mogadishu, Hibo Wardere lives with her husband and seven children in London, where she works as a teaching assistant at a local primary school. As a childhood survivor of female genital mutilation (FGM) who has at last begun to speak publicly about her ordeal, Hibo is on a mission to educate students

A native of Buffalo, New York, Nasheyah is a Yemeni-American interior designer at Lowe’s. A mother of five, she silently endured domestic violence for 18 years, too scared to ask for help. Only when a neighbor heard her screaming and called the police did Nasheyah step forward. After gaining the courage to break her silence,

Maher Gabra is an independent writer, speaker, and commentator on the Middle East based in Washington, DC. He has been featured on major media news outlets including Al-Jazeera and Huffington Post. My name is Maher Gabra. I was born and raised in Cairo, Egypt. I have been working in the civil society sector since 2001,

Humaira is the co-founder of Afghan Friends Network (AFN). She was the cultural consultant for stage productions of the Kite Runner, BLOOD AND GIFTS, and other theatrical and Hollywood media. Humaira blogs about Afghan culture and cuisine on her widely popular site—Afghan Culture Unveiled. Previously, Humaira was director of International Marketing at Sun Microsystems and