MAPS Federal Chapters

MAPS AFFILIATED EMPLOYEE RESOURCE GROUPS

Muslim Americans in Public Service (MAPS) National recognizes and supports the following chapter employee resource groups (ERGs), which are also known as volunteer employee organizations (VEOs), affinity groups, or employee networking groups (ENGs), depending on the agency.

MAPS chapters conduct programs and activities that are in accord with the objectives of MAPS National, and may be established in Federal, State, county or local agencies or public institutions.

MAPS Federal chapters are officially recognized and registered employee resource groups at their respective U.S. government departments, whose mission is to foster community, religious accommodation, and professional networking among its members. Particular emphasis and focus among and on behalf of MAPS membership will be dedicated to the practice of public service at their respective departments and at the Federal Government in general. MAPS chapters also aim to assist their host departments with achieving specific strategic human capital business initiatives and serve as a strategic partner in promoting a culture of equal opportunity, diversity and inclusion. 

MAPS is the first national organization that aims to support, reinforce, and sustain staff associations representing Muslim public service professionals across government. MAPS also links chapters with other Muslim staff associations through a national network, and facilitates collaboration and resource sharing among them through representation on MAPS’ Leadership Coordination Council.

Learn more about forming a MAPS chapter at your government agency or public institution here.

Muslim Americans in Public Service at the US Department of Justice (MAPS-DOJ)

Founded: 2023

Contact: mapsdoj@mapsnational.org

Nadia Ahmed

President, MAPS DOJ, ERG at the US Department of Justice
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Mahjabeen Rahman

Vice President, MAPS DOJ, ERG at the US Department of Justice
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Badar Tareen

Professional Development, Mentorship & Networking Director, MAPS DOJ, ERG at the US Department of Justice
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Syed Naqvi

Communication, Events & Outreach Director, MAPS DOJ, ERG at the US Department of Justice
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Khashayar Attaran

Secretary, MAPS DOJ, ERG at the US Department of Justice
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Muhammad Khan

Associate Board Member, MAPS DOJ, ERG at the US Department of Justice
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Omarana Ejaz

Associate Board Member, MAPS DOJ, ERG at the US Department of Justice
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Ahmad Maaty

Associate Board Member, MAPS DOJ, ERG at the US Department of Justice
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Muslim Americans in Public Service at the US Department of Commerce (MAPS-DOC)

Founded: 2023

Contact: mapsdoc@mapsnational.org

Aamer Uddin

President, MAPS DOC, ERG at the US Department of Commerce
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Muslim Americans in Public Service at the US Department of Transportation (MAPS-DOT)

Founded: 2020

Contact: maps@dot.gov

Murat Omay

President, MAPS DOT, ERG at the US Department of Transportation
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Saeb Ahsan

Vice President, MAPS DOT, ERG at the US Department of Transportation
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Muslim Americans in Public Service at the US Department of Labor (MAPS-DOL)

Founded: 2024

Contact: maps-dol@dol.gov

Farha Haq

President, MAPS DOL, ERG at the US Department of Labor
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Muslim Americans in Public Service at the US Small Business Administration (MAPS-SBA)

Founded: 2020

Contact: 

Bilal Perry

President, MAPS SBA, ERG at the US Small Business Administration
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Muslim Americans in Public Service at the US Library of Congress (MAPS-LOC)

Founded: 2022

Contact: 

Hassan Sheikh

President, MAPS at the Library of Congress
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All MAPS ERG/ Chapter Board members serve in their official organizational capacities.

Nadia Janjua Ahmed is an Assistant United States Attorney in District of Nevada. Nadia has served as a federal prosecutor for more than twelve years and is currently in the Appellate Division within USANV.  Nadia has also practiced privately as a litigator in the fields of criminal defense, civil rights, regulatory matters, and general business litigation both in Nevada and in California.

Nadia clerked for the Honorable Johnnie B. Rawlinson with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit between 2007 and 2009. Nadia currently serves as Secretary on the Executive Committee of the National Association of Muslim Lawyers (NAML) (the nation’s oldest national Muslim bar association), and chaired NAML’s 2022 Annual Conference.

Nadia earned her juris doctor from Columbia Law School in 2004, with certification from CLS’s Parker School for Foreign and Comparative Law. She lives in Las Vegas with her husband and three children.

Mahjabeen Rahman is a Trial Attorney at the Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. She joined the Division through the Attorney General’s Honors Program. She earned her juris doctor from Georgetown University Law Center and while in law school worked at the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Previously, Mahjabeen worked as a Research Associate with S.P. Kothari, Gordon Y Billard Professor of Accounting and Finance at MIT Sloan School of Management and was also a Senior Transfer Pricing Consultant at PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Outside of work, Mahjabeen enjoys exploring new countries, long walks, reading, yoga, live music performances, and quality time with friends and family.

Badar Tareen has been an Attorney Advisor at the Department’s Disability Rights Section since October 2021.  Badar was a Presidential Management Fellow and worked on civil rights issues at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, U.S. Department of Justice, and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. After college, Badar worked as a staffer in the U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives (where he served as member of the Muslim Congressional Staffers Association). 

Badar grew up in a Pakistani family in rural North Dakota and went to Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, where he studied political science and was a trumpet performance and academic scholar. Badar attended law school at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. During his free hours, Badar spends time with family, performs stand-up comedy, and writes/directs/produces films. 

Syed Nabeel Naqvi has served the United States Marshals Service (USMS) Marshal Headquarters in Arlington, VA since 2020. In this role, he has been instrumental in ensuring that all federal pre-trial prisoners are treated with the utmost fairness and respect, upholding the highest standards of the justice system. Characterized by a unique blend of IT expertise and a commitment to public service, Nabeel’s career journey exemplifies his unwavering commitment to excellence, his ability to adapt to diverse roles, and his dedication to making a positive impact in the service of the public and the principles of justice.

Armed with a strong educational foundation, he ventured into the Information Technology industry, where he honed his skills and gained valuable experience.

In pursuit of a greater calling, Nabeel transitioned into the federal government sector, where he began his journey as a dedicated contractor. His unwavering commitment to public service and his ability to adapt to challenging environments quickly set him apart.

In 2018, Nabeel embarked on a significant chapter in his career by joining the federal government full-time. He was stationed in McAllen, TX, where he assumed a critical role in ensuring that federal prisoners were housed in a safe and humane manner. His dedication to upholding the principles of justice and human rights made a tangible impact on the lives of those he served.

Syed completed his Masters in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance and Information Technology from Stratford University in 2010.

Khashayar Khasha” Attaran is a current civil trial attorney for the United States Department of Justice (“DOJ”). Concurrently, he is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Prior to his role with the DOJ, Khasha was a federal criminal trial attorney working as an Assistant Federal Public Defender at the Office of the Federal Public Defender, in Pittsburgh, PA. 

Khasha started his legal career as an Assistant Public Defender in West Palm Beach, Florida. An accomplished trial attorney he has represented over 2000 people in State and Federal Court and has tried over 40 cases to verdict. The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers invited him as a guest speaker on how to successfully gain access to proprietary source code belonging to third-party technology companies. He received his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Oregon, and his Judicial Doctorate from the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law.

Muhammad Khan is a federal employee with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Chicago Division. 

Born and raised in the great city of Cleveland, Ohio, Muhammad was four years old during the events of September 11th, 2001. While he does not have a vivid recollection of the events as they unfolded, it was a moment that impacted his life forever. Like many Muslim-Americans, Muhammad experienced many challenges with bullying, discrimination, and witnessing his community faced with hate crimes.

 This inspired Muhammad to seek a life of public service and his dream to serve in the FBI. Within the organization, Muhammad serves as Chair to the FBI’s Near & Middle East Advisory Committee, one of nine committees within the FBI’s Office of Diversity & Inclusion. Muhammad is now the associate member of the DOJ MAPS Executive Board. 

Omarana Ejaz is an Intelligence Analyst with the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF). She is the chair on the DEIA Committee for her component and has a leadership role on the AG’s DEIA Advisory Council. Prior to OCDETF, Omarana was with the Department of Treasury—Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) for over 10 years where she worked with different regions of the world to collaborate, detect, and deter illicit financial activities. She worked alongside the U.S. and foreign partners to determine patterns and trends to ensure illicit financial activities are kept at bay. Omarana holds a Master’s in International Commerce and Policy.

Ahmad Maaty currently serves as a Senior Economist with the U.S. Department of Justice, developing Federal regulations for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). He worked in a similar regulatory capacity at the U.S. Department of Transportation, and U.S. Department of Homeland Security, including as Acting Chief Economist with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). He also deployed as an Inter-Governmental Affairs Specialist during FEMA emergency responses to disaster declarations in Texas and Puerto Rico.

Previously, Ahmad served as a Franklin Fellow with the U.S. Department of State’s Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources, helping craft State and USAID’s economic growth budget and strategy. He also helped introduce data tools to guide assistance as a founding member of the Country Data Analytics team, liaising with the White House National Security Council on bi-lateral investment opportunities. Ahmad first joined State ten years earlier, helping cover the Middle East portfolio before the United Nations Security Council for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. 

During the eight year interval in Federal service, Ahmad held roles with the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), and the Islamic Development Bank, developing economic growth, poverty reduction, and evaluation programs with fieldwork in over a dozen countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia, and the Middle East. 

A New York City native, he served as President of the Arab Students Association at Pace University in downtown Manhattan during the events of September 11th, 2001, and on the Board of the Muslim Students Association at the George Washington University in Washington DC. Ahmad earned his Masters in Public Administration from Cornell University, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Cornell policy journal.

Aamer Uddin is an International Trade Specialist at the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC). He primarily focuses on upstream materials crucial for the energy transition and advanced manufacturing sectors. He oversees critical minerals, consumer goods, and textile supply chains within his portfolio. He demonstrates a strong commitment to ethical supply chain practices by actively supporting efforts to eradicate forced labor globally.

A proud alumnus of the Future Leader in Public Service Fellowship,
Aamer gained valuable experience interning for the Office of the
Secretary at the DOC. Prior to his tenure at the DOC, he cultivated a
diverse background in public policy and electoral politics, including
serving on the House Small Business Committee and spearheading
progressive campaigns across the Midwest, South, and New England
regions. During his time in the House of Representatives, Aamer played a pivotal role in staffing hearings aimed at enhancing the global competitiveness of small businesses and shaping policies for COVID-19 relief efforts.

Originally from Detroit, Michigan, Aamer holds public policy and organizational behavior degrees from the University of Kansas. In addition to his governmental duties, he has showcased his entrepreneurial acumen by founding and scaling a successful modular recycling business.

Murat is a Program Manager at the ITS JPO leading the ITS Data Program, along with a portfolio of strategic initiatives enabling innovative use of data through collaborations, advanced analytics, and AI/ML applications.

Prior to his tenure at the ITS JPO, he served as a Senior Program Manager at the Federal Transit Administration’s Research & Mobility Innovation Office leading several mobility innovation initiatives, developing strategic partnership and business models, integrating advanced technologies into transit operations and performance measurement, and managing development of advanced systems for transportation accessibility.  Prior joining the FTA, Murat served as a Principal Transportation Engineer at Battelle Memorial Institute, where he managed ITS technology and policy research programs involving multi-modal transportation system integration, transportation accessibility technologies, and sustainability/resilience of the Nation’s transportation network.

The first part of Murat’s 25-year career involved serving as an engineering consultant in the private sector. He also volunteers his time to serve on the Board of Directors for Alexandria Transit Company (aka DASH), City of Alexandria Transportation Commission, and Partnership for Public Service – Federal Innovation Council.

He holds an undergraduate degree in Industrial Design and graduate degrees in Sustainable Transportation from University of Washington and Transport Engineering and Planning from Edinburgh Napier University, as well as a Public Leadership Credential from Harvard University Kennedy School of Government. He is also a graduate of the AI Federal Leadership Program offered by the Partnership for Public Service. On his free time, Murat enjoys spending time with his family, mentoring young professionals in navigating the technology and transportation environments, playing tennis and racquetball, taking scuba diving trips, and working in his garage woodshop restoring old mechanic’s toolboxes.

Saeb serves as the Data Governance Specialist at the US Department of Transportation, where he coordinates priorities with the Operating Administrations for the Data Governance Working Group. He has previously worked in management and technology roles in the private sector, including ZS Associates and Accenture, and as an Open Cities Fellow for the nonprofit Sunlight Foundation.  

Saeb received a Masters in Public Policy at the University of Chicago, where he was an inaugural Pearson Institute Fellow, and a Bachelors from the University of Illinois at Chicago, where he was the first business graduate awarded a Fulbright Fellowship.
  
Saeb grew up as a US expatriate living Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and is a history enthusiast.. 

Farha Haq is an attorney and serves as an Expert at the U.S. Department of Labor where she works on complex cases of systemic employment discrimination. She is passionate about worker rights, pay equity, fair employment practices and has substantial experience in federal enforcement work. Ms. Haq is a multi-year recipient of the prestigious U.S. Secretary of Labor Honor Awards for Exceptional Achievement and Worker Protection.

Jermaine Perry is a business operations professional specializing in operations management, systems thinking, and project management. He currently works at the U.S. Small Business Administration developing and executing program-level policies and procedures.

Jermaine is a graduate of Central State University (OH) and received his MBA from Ohio Dominican University. Additionally, he is an Excellence in Government Fellow and Returned Peace Corps Volunteer.

Hassan Sheikh is an Analyst in Public Health Emergency Management in the Congressional Research Service for the Library of Congress, where he serves as an authoritative, non-partisan expert for Members of Congress on issues related to public health crises and the FDA regulation of drugs.

Before entering public service at CRS, Hassan served at the local jurisdictional level with the City of Baltimore, where he served as a Medical Countermeasure Coordinator for Baltimore’s Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response. In that position, he was responsible for coordinating Baltimore’s response to major health crises. Most notably, Hassan served as a key architect in Baltimore’s COVID-19 response where he oversaw a number of response operations such as ensuring that healthcare systems had the equipment they needed to keep their facilities operational during the worst outbreaks of COVID-19 and the mass vaccination of tens of thousands of Baltimore City residents against COVID-19.  

Prior to his time in Baltimore City, Hassan had served as a community pharmacist in the Northeastern United States area. His prior experiential experiences had afforded him the opportunity to practice pharmacy in a myriad of settings including the Indian Health Service, United States Air Force, and a Caribbean Rural Healthcare Clinic. These experiences led Hassan to the development of coordinated health care strategies to better serve his community. While working as a community pharmacist, Hassan would serve as a mentor for pharmacy student interns and would travel to the Caribbean to serve as preceptor for student pharmacists.  

Hassan’s career has spanned the cross section of health and law, and at every juncture, he has chosen to apply his experiences in the way that best has taken any opportunity that best allows him to serve his community.

Hassan graduated with his Doctor of Pharmacy in 2012 from the Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. After three years as a practicing pharmacist for medically underserved populations in Vermont and New Hampshire, he decided to pursue a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Maryland School of Law, from which he graduated in 2018 with a specialization in health law and policy. Hassan can be reached at outreach@mapsnational.org.

 

Leveraging her expertise in international development, foreign policy, diplomacy, & advocacy, Fatema Z. Sumar leads efforts to fight poverty by transforming global systems in reaching vulnerable populations. She is the author of the book, The Development Diplomat: Working Across Borders, Boardrooms, and Bureaucracies to End Poverty.

Fatema most recently served as the Vice President of Compact Operations at the US Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a role appointed by President Biden. She oversaw all the agency’s compacts – MCC’s signature grant investment vehicle to reduce poverty. She previously served as MCC’s Deputy Vice President for Europe, Asia, the Pacific, and Latin America.

Fatema has a distinguished career in the U.S. government in both executive & legislative branches. She previously served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for South and Central Asia at the US Department of State where she led efforts to expand regional economic and energy connectivity & as a Presidential Management Fellow. In Congress, she was a Senior Professional Staff Member on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee focused on Afghanistan, Pakistan, & the broader region.

In civil society, Fatema was the Vice President of Global Programs at Oxfam America where she oversaw regional development & humanitarian response to fight the injustice of poverty. Early in her career, she also worked at the American Civil Liberties Union.

Fatema sits on Advisory Boards for Princeton, Cornell, & Indiana universities & on the Advisory Council for Muslim Americans in Public Service. She has been published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, The New Republic, The Hill, & other outlets. She is a frequent guest speaker & has testified before the U.S. House of Representatives & U.S. Senate.

Fatema has a MPA from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs and a BA in Government from Cornell University. She studied abroad at the American University in Cairo and received an honorary doctorate from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies in Monterey.

Dr. Nader Metwalli has been a staff scientist with the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) at the National Institutes of Health’s (NIH) Bethesda, MD campus since early 2020. Before joining the NIH, he served as a patent examiner with the U.S. Patent and Trademark office (USPTO) working in the Alexandria, VA main office. 

Prior to Federal service, Nader has held a number of research and development centric roles throughout his career in private industry and entrepreneurship. 

Nader received his doctorate degree in bioengineering/biomedical engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology/Emory University in Atlanta, GA. He can be reached at board@mapsnational.org.

Ahmad Maaty is a Senior Economist with the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA), where he conducts regulatory analyses and evaluations of the societal impacts of proposed safety and environmental regulations on the U.S. oil, gas and energy transportation industries. 

He worked in a similar regulatory capacity at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, including as Acting Chief Economist with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and previously as an economic growth advisor with the U.S. Department of State’s Office of U.S. Foreign Assistance Resources, among other international and multilateral institutions.

Ahmad holds a BBA from George Washington University and an MPA from Cornell University.

Learn more about MAPS at DOT here.

 

Tamim Chowdhury is a born-and-raised Chicagoan and a career public service professional with eighteen years of Federal experience. He has served in roles and specializations ranging from project management, and contracting, to policy, economic development and national program administration. He is currently a Senior Contracting Officer with the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).

Tamim is dedicated to the continuing development of the American Muslim community in civic life. In addition to serving on the MAPS National Board, he is also on the Board of the Muslim Caucus Education Collective. You can read his personal perspectives, thoughts and observations of our quickly changing world on his blog.

His passions stem from his M.A. in Education with a focus on transformational leadership and emotional and social intelligence. As Program Director, Tamim also Chairs MAPS’ Program Committee and can be reached at programs@mapsnational.org.

 

Asad Nawaz has formerly served successive terms as Vice President and President of the American Muslim and Arabic Cultural Association (AMACA) at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

Asad began his public service career in 2004 examining patent applications at the USPTO. Currently a Supervisory Patent Examiner, he leads a group of primary and junior patent examiners in the field of Multiplex Communications and VoIP. Asad has worked with European Patent Office (EPO) counterparts on the Cooperate Patent Classification System, and has served as an Advisor to the Commissioner for Patents. 

In furtherance of his strong belief in personal and professional development, Asad has served as lead Trainer in the Patent Training Academy and as a Resource Supervisor at the Office of Innovation Development. He is also in the process of obtaining his Associate Certified Coach (ICF) credential as part of USPTO’s Career Coach Program. 

Asad completed an Executive Education Certificate in Public Leadership from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, where he was also part of the Senior Executive Fellows program. Asad received a BS in Computer Science and an MS in Information Security and Assurance from George Mason University. He can be reached at professionaldevelopment@mapsnational.org.

 

Muqaddas Ejaz is a community advocate and activist. She is currently serving her second term as a member of New Jersey’s Cherry Hill Democratic Committee, where she was the first Muslim elected in 2017. Her leadership skills have been applied on various boards, including the Camden County Cultural and Heritage Commission. The Commission works to strengthen the cultural framework of Camden County by educating the community and supporting local organizations with funding and technical assistance to deepen the interactions between cultural practitioners and residents. 

Devoted to serving others, Muqaddas remains involved in several grassroots organizations that work towards the development of local communities and the betterment of New Jersey’s diverse citizens. She serves as the Director of Community Engagement for The Muslim Network, co-led the First Annual Camden County S.U.R.E. (Students United for Respect & Equity) Summit for the youth, and co-founder of Know Your Muslim Neighbor, South Jersey. Previously, she has also served as the lead for the English as a Second Language and Computer Literacy program at the Muslim American Community Association and has designed, planned, and led other seminars, community and cultural events for the diverse community. 

Muqaddas has been recently recognized by the National Association of Women Business Owners (NAWBO) chapter of South Jersey as Community Advocate of the Year. She was also awarded the Camden County Freedom Medal in 2018 for her community service, and U.S. Congressman Donald Norcross (NJ-1) recognized her as a Woman of Honor in Education. She can be reached at outreach@mapsnational.org.

Mariya Ilyas is a career U.S. Foreign Service Officer currently serving as a Political-Military Officer in the Office of Regional Security and Arms Transfers in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs at the U.S. Department of State in Washington, DC. Mariya previously served as the Non-Immigrant Visa Chief at the U.S. Embassy Doha, Qatar and as Vice Consul at the U.S. Embassy Amman, Jordan. She is the co-chair of American Muslims and Friends at State (AMFAS) employee organization at the U.S. State Department.

Prior to joining the U.S. Foreign Service as a Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Fellow, she taught English as a Fulbright Scholar in Antalya, Turkey and worked as a data analyst at Liberty Mutual Insurance in Boston. Mariya has held internships at The White House, the U.S. Department of State’s Office of Pakistan Affairs, the U.S. Embassy Bangkok, and the Population Reference Bureau. She launched a journalism program in her native Pakistan as a recipient of the national Davis Projects for Peace Award and completed the Public Policy and International Affairs Fellowship at Princeton University.

Mariya holds an MA in security studies, international business, and global maritime affairs from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, where she earned the academic distinction of Honos Civicus. She graduated with a BA in mathematics from Bowdoin College, where she was a Chamberlain Scholar and was recognized for her dedication to service through the Heart and Soul Award and Roosevelt D. Franklin Cup. Mariya is proficient in Arabic, Urdu, and Hindi and conversational in Turkish and Spanish. She enjoys volunteering on the Bowdoin College Alumni Council and as the professional development director for Muslim Americans in Public Service (MAPS).

Hichem Hadjeres is currently the project coordinator for water management R&D at the Office of Fossil Energy’s Advanced Energy and Hydrogen Systems Division of the Department of Energy.

Before moving to D.C., Hichem was active in the water innovation space in the Boston area, both as a clean tech entrepreneur and research scientist, and was a founder of the New England Water Environment Association’s Innovation Committee.

He is equally passionate about youth development, and served in various capacities as a youth mentor and program developer throughout the east coast and overseas.

Hichem holds a master’s degree in hydrology from the University of Rhode Island and a bachelor’s in geosciences and a minor in economics from Wesleyan University. He can be reached at youthengagement@mapsnational.org.

 

Dr. Leila Hanafi is a Moroccan-American international development lawyer with a record of service in international organizations and  multilateral institutions. She is currently a senior legal adviser with the World Bank Group and adjunct law professor at George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C.  Leila is Founder and Principal of ARPA international Law Group, an international development law firm, and has served in legal advisory roles to United Nations agencies, including UNOPS, UNDP and the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA), as well as foreign governments.

Previously, Leila oversaw the International Criminal Court’s Middle East and North Africa Coalition work and served as staff attorney and programs manager of the American Bar Association (ABA) World Justice Project. Amidst the Arab Spring reforms, she was selected by the Moroccan Government as Law Commissioner in the National Inter-Governmental Commission for Policy Dialogue and Constitutional Reforms.

Leila is a graduate of American University, Georgetown University, and George Washington University Law School in Washington D.C., and earned her doctorate in law in the United Kingdom under a fully funded merit doctoral scholarship. She can be reached at board@mapsnational.org.

 

David Hunsicker is one of the founding members of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Muslims Employee Resource Group (UMERG) and a current member of their board. He is a Senior Conflict and Peacebuilding Advisor and the Middle East Team Leader in USAID’s Center for Conflict and Violence Prevention where he specializes in issues of religion, identity and conflict. 

David spent eight years living and working in the Central Asian Republics of the former Soviet Union, including three years as the Religion, State and Society Specialist in USAID’s Central Asian regional mission. In this capacity, he was responsible for advising USAID and U.S. Embassies in the five Central Asian republics on integrating religious communities into U.S. Government-funded development programming. Previously, David also worked at the U.S. Embassy in Uzbekistan where he provided support to local human rights groups and facilitated Embassy outreach to religious leaders. 

David holds a BA in Islamic Studies from the University of Michigan and an MA in Near Eastern Languages and Civilization from the University of Washington. He can be reached at board@mapsnational.org.

Fozia Janjua sits on the Township Council in the Philadelphia suburb of Mt. Laurel, New Jersey and is the first Muslim and Pakistani-American councilwoman elected to office in South Jersey. An educator who has a passion for service and social justice, Fozia is a founding board member of a local nonprofit called CommunitySJP whose mission is to unite communities through service and promote civic engagement.

A longtime community organizer and public servant, Fozia has helped people navigate the housing, schooling, and justice system throughout the years. At an early age, Fozia started volunteering, working with, and advocating for the marginalized members of her local community.  

As a first-generation Pakistani American, and one of three girls, she considers herself fortunate to be born in one of the most inclusive cities in the world, San Francisco, California, and raised by two very progressive, socially conscious parents who instilled the values of hard work, education, and especially the concept of giving back.

Fozia graduated from the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in Sociology. She can be reached at board@mapsnational.org.

Rummi Khan is an experienced campaign manager, project manager, and strategist at the intersection of culture, faith communities, and politics. He has over a decade of experience in public affairs, political campaigns, community engagement, and event management.

Rummi currently serves as Chief Operating Officer for the Muslim Public Affairs Council (MPAC), a national public affairs nonprofit organization working to promote and strengthen American pluralism by increasing understanding and improving policies that impact American Muslims for the past 30 years.

Prior to MPAC, Rummi co-founded an international arts and culture initiative and served in leadership roles on Presidential, Congressional, and Federal Policy campaigns. Rummi can be reached at board@mapsnational.org.

Fazal Mirza is a co-founder and Vice-President of the Muslim Americans in Public Service (MAPS) employee resource group at the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), where he is a Senior Contracting Officer and Team Lead with the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA). With a $25 million warrant, and a FAC-C Level III certification, he has procured over $830 million in goods and services for the Federal government. His procurement expertise is with R&D contracts to strengthen the nations pipeline infrastructure, and complex IT services. Fazal leads a team of Contract Specialists on a day to day basis.

During his time at DOT, he was selected to be on a detail with the DOT Office of the Senior Procurement Executive, which involved implementing a Grants Management Certification Program within DOT and implementing policy for the Department’s 11,300 Acquisition Workforce employees. In addition, Fazal was selected to start a new IT Acquisition Center of Excellence (DOT IT ACE) Contracting Office, under which all IT commodities and services would be procured.

Fazal has also participated in the Partnership for Public Service’s Excellence in Government Fellowship program. He began Federal service procuring a variety of goods and services as a DOT Contract Specialist in 2009. Fazal is a graduate from the University of Florida’s Warrington’s School of Business, and serves his local community as a coach and a Girl Scout Troop Leader. Fazal can be reached at board@mapsnational.org.

Rubina Halwani is a training, education, and inclusion consultant, and currently serves as an Instructional Designer for the State of Utah.

Her career spans over 20 years across multiple industries, including education, government, and public policy.

Rubina is recognized as an industry leader in Learning and Development. Her work has received acclaim and awards for high impact. Her strengths include leadership, public service, and empathy, and she has been recognized for her collaborative work towards building spaces of inclusion and religious plurality. 

Identifying as an American Muslim of South Asian heritage, Rubina has been active in her local and Muslim communities. Born and raised in Maryland, she has lived and worked in Washington DC, San Francisco, Iowa, and Utah. 

Rubina holds a B.A. degree in English Education and a Master’s degree in Educational Policy and Leadership Studies.

Ramy Osman is Co-founder and current Treasurer of the American Muslim and Arabic Cultural Association (AMACA) at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), where he also coordinates Friday jumuah congregational prayers and Ramadan community iftar dinners. Ramy is a Patent Examiner of network technology patents at the USPTO, and received their Bronze Medal Award for Outstanding work performance.

Ramy also volunteers for various community and charity projects, and edited the final report, “NYC Coalition for Muslim School Holidays,” submitted to the New York City Board of Education ahead of their landmark 2015 decision to observe the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.

Ramy holds a master’s degree in Telecommunications, and can be reached at board@mapsnational.org.

 

Maryum Saifee is Outreach Officer with Mosaic employee affinity group at the U.S. Department of State, where she is a career U.S. Foreign Service Officer. She recently took a sabbatical where she was a Council on Foreign Relations International Affairs Fellow and a Senior Visiting Fellow at the Truman Center for National Policy. Her overseas postings included Embassies Cairo and Baghdad, as well as U.S. Consulate Lahore. Maryum also served in domestic assignments in the Bureau of International Organization Affairs, the Secretary’s Office of Global Women’s Issues, and the Secretary’s Office of Religion and Global Affairs.

Prior to the Foreign Service, Maryum was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Jordan focused on girls’ education and an AmeriCorps Volunteer in Seattle working with South Asian and Muslim immigrant survivors of domestic violence. She also worked for the Ford Foundation, Women Deliver, the United Nations Development Programme, and the Acumen Fund.

Maryum is an alumna of the Presidential Leadership Scholars and the Council on Foreign Relations term membership programs, and is a graduate of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and the University of Texas at Austin. Maryum is participating in MAPS in her personal capacity, and can be reached at board@mapsnational.org.

Raheemah Abdulaleem has pursued a combination of litigation, government and nonprofit experience to further civil rights and the elimination of discrimination in the workplace. Raheemah is currently the career Deputy General Counsel in the White House Executive Office of the President, Office of Administration. The Office of Administration provides the White House with a wide variety of legal advice on employment, fiscal and administrative law matters.

Previously, Raheemah worked as Senior Trial Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division, where she litigated employment discrimination cases. Raheemah advanced President Obama’s criminal justice reform efforts through her service on DOJ’s Clemency Initiative announced in 2014. She reviewed federal inmate petitions, the majority from inmates convicted of nonviolent offenses, and made recommendations to the President. Raheemah’s work contributed to President Obama granting a record number of commutations –more than the previous seven Presidents combined.

Prior to Federal service, Raheemah worked at two nationally-recognized law firms where she represented public and private sector employers in various labor and employment related matters.

Raheemah also has broad nonprofit experience. She serves on the Board of Directors for Karamah: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights. Through its research and educational programs, Karamah promotes gender and racial equity, civil rights and leadership development. Raheemah joined a faculty of experienced lawyers and judges to teach the Harvard Law School Trial Advocacy Workshop during Fall 2017, 2018, and 2019. In 2016, Raheemah was featured in a White House blog profiling Muslim Americans and she received a Nation’s Best Advocate: Top 40 Lawyers nationwide award from the National Bar Association.

Raheemah received a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University and her Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School, where she served on the editorial board of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review and worked at the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.

Rumana Ahmed is a communications, strategic planning, organizational development and policy consultant. Most recently, she has done work for the National Democratic Institute on the potential impacts of 5G and advanced technology, democracy and human rights, and to develop a framework for monitoring internet openness and intervention around democratic elections and protests for global civil society partners. Rumana was a Biden-Harris Transition Team agency review member for the U.S. Agency for Global Media on their organizational, policy priority and COVID-19 response issues.

Rumana previously served as a Senior Advisor for Global Engagement and Strategic Communications in the National Security Council under the Obama Administration. From the NSC, she worked on efforts to advance diplomatic relations with Cuba and Laos, promote the Iran Nuclear Deal, expand global entrepreneurship for women and youth, develop Presidential engagements and messaging with Muslim Americans and protect persecuted minorities in Myanmar, Iraq and Syria.

Rumana first joined the White House with the Office of Presidential Correspondence in 2010, and during her six years in the West Wing, she also served as a liaison with the Office of Public Engagement on issues including health care reform, gun violence prevention, STEM access for girls of color, and diversity and inclusion.

Rumana is a public speaker and published author, including a book called West Wingers (highlighted by Oprah Magazine) and an article in The Atlantic named by Chartbeat as the 23rd most-engaged online article of 2017.

Rumana is also a Harvard Center for Public Leadership Fellow. As a Fellow, she worked on public-private partnerships for reconciliation and reintegration under Colombian Peace Treaty efforts in former-FARC military zones around Bogotá in 2019. Rumana holds a B.A. in International Affairs, with a concentration in economic development, from George Washington University, and an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School of Government. 

 

Judge Dania Ayoubi is an Administrative Law Judge in the Office of Administrative Hearings for the State of Maryland, where she presides over appeals from over thirty state agencies. 

Prior to her appointment, she served in Federal government for almost ten years, most recently as Senior Counsel in the Office of Regulations at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), where she crafted consumer finance regulations and developed an expertise in the areas of debt collection, mortgages, and fair lending. She was also an Attorney Advisor at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), where she worked to develop policies to extend broadband internet access to underserved parts of America.  
 
Judge Ayoubi previously worked at Hughes Hubbard and Reed LLP and clerked for Chief Judge Eric T. Washington at the D.C. Court of Appeals. A graduate of Georgetown University (A.B.) and Georgetown University Law Center (J.D.), Judge Ayoubi is a member of the National Association of Women Judges. 

 

Judge Faruqui has been serving as a Federal magistrate judge for the District of Columbia since September 2020.  He is the first Muslim Judge in the D.C. Circuit. 

Prior to his appointment, he was a Federal prosecutor, first in the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, and then in the District of Columbia. 

Over the span of over twelve years of Federal service as an Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA), he prosecuted numerous criminal cases, most recently serving as the lead prosecutor for complex and novel crimes involving, for example, terrorists’ use of cryptocurrency, nuclear weapons proliferation, darknet sites dedicated to child exploitation, and antiquities theft. He also litigated over $700 million in money laundering and asset forfeiture proceedings. As a subject-matter expert, he has presented on cryptocurrency and anti-money laundering issues in conferences spanning from Europe to Asia and the Middle East.  

Prior to serving as a Federal prosecutor, Judge Faruqui worked at a corporate law firm where he focused on government investigations and general commercial litigation.

Judge Faruqui is a board member for Jobs for Homeless People, a non-profit that provides housing and vocational training to people in the D.C. metropolitan area. He also served as a Muslim-outreach coordinator for the U.S. Department of Justice and an as an adjunct professor at Harris-Stowe State University. He received his J.D. and undergraduate degree from Georgetown University.

A career civil servant with over 15 year in the Federal government, Noha Gaber has held leadership positions at the Architect of the Capitol, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  Noha joined EDA as its first ever Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) in October 2020.  In this role, Noha supports strategy formulation and execution of enterprise-wide operational improvements and continual business model innovation.

Noha’s expertise spans all aspects of organizational excellence, including strategic and operational planning, performance measurement and management, data analytics, process analysis and improvement, organizational development and customer experience. Noha also founded and led EPA’s Emerging Leaders Network, a nationwide grassroots employee organization helping to develop and prepare EPA’s future leaders.

Noha is active in the inter-agency space, including currently serving as the Chair for a Task Force on assessing and improving management quality in federal agencies and Chair of the Federal Improvement Team. She previously founded and led the Federal Internal Communications Community of Practice, co-led GovConnect, a government-wide initiative under the President Obama’s Second Term Management Agenda, and served as a member of the White House Advisory Group on Reform of the Senior Executive Service.

Noha received her bachelor’s and doctoral degrees in Environmental Engineering from the University of Southampton in England and holds a Certificate in Knowledge Management.

 

​​​​Dr. Sadaf Jaffer is an educator and activist. She recently completed two terms as mayor of Montgomery Township, New Jersey. In January of 2019, she became the first South Asian woman to serve as mayor of a municipality in New Jersey, and the first Muslim woman to serve as mayor of a municipality in the United States.
 
Her signature initiatives included: creating and implementing a crisis communications plan to help Montgomery Township maintain some of the lowest COVID-19 infection and fatality rates in New Jersey; facilitating a participatory design process for the municipal center and library project started by her predecessors while securing millions of dollars in state funding; responding to demands for racial justice by coordinating meetings for Black community members and youth activists with the Township’s police leadership to build trust and mutual understanding; and inaugurating a Youth Leadership Council to elevate the voices of young people who are energized to lead.
 
​Sadaf is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in South Asian Studies at Princeton University where she teaches courses on South Asian, Islamic, and Asian American Studies. Jaffer currently serves as Chair of the Inclusion and Equity Committee of Montgomery Township and on the Board of Trustees for the New Jersey Council for the Humanities. She was one of the founding members of Inspiring South Asian American Women (ISAAW), a group dedicated to encouraging civic engagement among South Asian American women in New Jersey. She is on the Board of Directors for The New Agenda, an organization that promotes women’s economic empowerment and combats sexual harassment and sexual assault. 
 
​Sadaf earned her bachelor’s degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and obtained her PhD in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations from Harvard University with a secondary field in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality.

 

​​Madiha Latif is an innovative thinker with over 20 years of broad-based expertise in leadership, financial management and customer engagement.  She is very passionate about working to improve federal government operations for the greater good of her fellow Americans. 

Madiha is the Deputy Assistant Commissioner  within Revenue Collections Management (RCM) at the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Bureau of the Fiscal Service. She has oversight responsibility for providing executive day-to-day leadership for the Compliance and Reporting Group (CRG), in support of the Government’s collection and settlement of over $4.2 trillion in federal revenue each year (e.g., taxes, fees, fines, loan repayments, customs duties, donations) and the processing of 500 million transactions annually.

Madiha has also held leadership positions in RCM as the Agency Relationship Outreach and engagement Director where she transformed the way RCM facilitated adoption of innovative solutions to its 225+ federal agency customer universe implementing a holistic approach of a one voice methodology.  

Prior to joining the Federal government, Madiha held several leadership positions within the private sector supporting U.S. Department of State and U.S. Department of Homeland Security.  She is also a veteran, having served in war zones with the active duty Army. 

Madiha has an Executive Certificate in Public Leadership from Harvard Kennedy School, an Executive Master of Business Administration (EMBA) from the University of Maryland and Bachelor of Science in Organizational Management from University of Phoenix.

 

​​​​Ahmed Mousa is a life sciences entrepreneur with a background in molecular biology and an attorney with significant IP and FDA experience. Ahmed currently serves as Senior Vice President, Corporate Operations and General Counsel of Pieris Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: PIRS), a U.S.-German biotechnology company developing cutting-edge therapies in immuno-oncology and for respiratory disease. Ahmed serves as site head for the company’s U.S. office, oversees project leadership and quality assurance, and leads Pieris’ intellectual property, corporate secretary, and legal activities, including licensing and corporate legal as well as the Company’s global patent portfolio.
 

Prior to joining Pieris, Ahmed was an Associate at the law firm Kirkland & Ellis LLP, and an attorney with the law firm Covington & Burling LLP, where he represented pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in a range of matters, including significant experience in generic and biosimilar drug litigation.

A founding Advisor to MAPS, Ahmed’s experience in public service included a stint with the U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary, and a judicial clerkship at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Ahmed obtained undergraduate degrees in Government and Molecular Biology from Cornell University and a master’s degree in Biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University, with research experience prior to his legal career focused on tumor biology and angiogenesis. Ahmed graduated from Georgetown Law with honors, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Georgetown Journal of International Law.

Arsalan Suleman is Counsel in Foley Hoag’s International Litigation & Arbitration Practice. His practice focuses on representing sovereign States in international disputes, including before the International Court of Justice, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, UN treaty bodies, U.S. courts, and other tribunals and dispute resolution forums. 

Arsalan is the U.S. Department of State’s former Acting Special Envoy to the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the world’s second largest international organization after the United Nations. He engaged with the OIC and its member states on bilateral and multilateral foreign policy issues, including via remarks before and participation in Heads-of-State Summits and Ministerial Level Meetings.

At the State Department, Suleman also served as Counselor for Multilateral Affairs in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor. He was the lead multilateral human rights policy adviser on freedom of expression and freedom of religion globally, as well as the lead multilateral human rights policy adviser for the Middle East, North Africa, and South and Central Asia.

Prior to joining the State Department, Suleman was a litigator in New York and clerked for the late Miriam Goldman Cedarbaum on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. He is also the President and co-founder of America Indivisible, a non-partisan, non-profit coalition effort to address rising bigotry against members of Muslim communities and those who appear to be Muslim from Black, Arab, Sikh, and South Asian American communities by reinforcing the American values of equality, pluralism, and strength through diversity. 

Dr. Asifa Quraishi-Landes is a full Professor of Law at the University of Wisconsin Law School, specializing in comparative Islamic and U.S. Constitutional law, with a current focus on modern Islamic constitutional theory.  Her career includes federal clerkships in the Eastern District of California and the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. A past Carnegie Scholar and Guggenheim Fellow, her recent publications includes “Legislating Morality and Other Illusions about Islamic Government.”  She is currently working on a book tentatively titled “Islamic Re-constitutionalism,” which presents a non-theocratic and non-secular model of Islamic constitutionalism for today’s Muslim-majority countries.

A lifelong leader in the Muslim American nonprofit scene, Asifa currently serves as Interim Co-Executive Director of Muslim Advocates, and on the governing boards of the Muslim Public Service Network (MPSN), Bayan Claremont Islamic Graduate School, and the Muslim Youth Camp of California.  She has been a past President and Board Member of NAML (National Association of Muslim Lawyers) as well as Karamah: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights. She is also an affiliate of the Muslim Women’s League, and a Fellow with the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding  (ISPU).

She has served as a Public Delegate on the U.S. Delegation to the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, the Task Force on Religion and the Making of U.S. Foreign Policy for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, and as advisor to the Pew Task Force on Religion & Public Life.  

Professor Quraishi-Landes holds a doctorate from Harvard Law School and other degrees from Columbia Law School, the University of California at Davis, and the University of California at Berkeley.

Alisha develops and coordinates U.S. policy engagement in Burma as a Desk Officer at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs (EAP), where she works with government agencies, international partners, and civil society to promote security, democratic governance, and humanitarian access.  She formerly advanced policies, public-private sector cooperation, and foreign assistance programming to counter global challenges and strengthen the rule of law in South Asia as a Program Advisor with in the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs.

Prior to her Department experience, Alisha engaged with domestic and foreign policy priorities through experiences at the U.S. Senate in the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (SFRC) and Senator Cory Booker’s Office, leading global think tanks based in China and Belgium, international media companies, state and local government, and NGOs promoting equity, economic empowerment, and increased access to education for children in Pakistan.

Outside of her professional experiences, she is involved in organizations advancing greater representation in and accessibility to opportunities in public service, including as a Board Member for both MAPS (as Deputy Outreach Director) and the Department of State’s South Asian American Employee Association (SAAEA), as well as an Advisory Board Member for Leading Women of Tomorrow.

Alisha graduated with honors from American University with bachelor’s degrees in International Studies and Political Science, minor in Chinese, and certificate in Women, Policy, and Political Leadership. She can be reached at policy@mapsnational.org.