MAPS DEIA Initiatives

MAPS INCLUSIVE GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES

Government works best when all public servants feel welcome in the workplace. 

MAPS aims to serve as a strategic partner in fostering a culture of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility within public institutions; support existing institutional efforts to maintain safe and conducive workplaces free of discrimination; and facilitate and promote the contributions and achievements of Muslim public service professionals. 

We welcome the review, dissemination and amplification of the substantive initiatives and resources below by members, allies, government officials, and all Americans who value an effective and inclusive government of and by the people.

MAPS / ISPU Toolkit on American Muslims 

MAPS is proud to bring you this Toolkit on American Muslims and Islam especially designed for government officials, below. The toolkit was first developed to address a lack of both “Resource Availability” and “Awareness of Muslim Employee Faith Practices” in government, as outlined in MAPS’ July 2021 Blueprint for Action of 13 recommendations to support Muslim American government employees (presented below). 

Kindly support and amplify this important resource by sharing with public administrators and human capital executives in your government institution or private organization using the suggested language below.

View the Government Administrators Toolkit: Research & Resources on American Muslims & Islam for Public Servants

Muslim American Organizations Launch Toolkit on American Muslims and Islam for Government Administrators

Washington, D.C., October 3rdth, 2022 — Muslim Americans in Public Service (MAPS), along with the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), launched a toolkit that provides information about the identity and faith of Muslim Americans to government administrators. This toolkit is intended to give government leaders a better understanding of the many Muslim Americans serving across all levels and branches of government, as well as facilitate broader access and pathways to positive and meaningful engagement with this growing segment of American society. To learn more visit https://www.ispu.org/government-administrators-toolkit/.

According to ISPU’s 2020 American Muslim Poll, this group faces the highest levels of discrimination of any faith or non-faith group since 9/11 due to negative media coverage which has led to distorted perceptions of Muslim Americans across the country. The lack of factual information on Muslim Americans has raised concerns for hiring managers and whether they should employ them in government jobs.

Inspired by MAPS’ national members, the toolkit was conceived following presidential proclamations and last year’s Executive Order on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce that highlighted the Federal government’s request to promote inclusion and the need for the collection and sharing of dedicated resources. The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) was called to “issue guidance and serve as a resource and repository for best practices for agencies to develop or enhance existing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility training programs” that can identify and help prevent “bias against underserved communities.” The toolkit aims to fulfill that order and serve as an informational resource to both elected officials and government administrators.

The Government Administrators Toolkit: Research and Resources on American Muslims and Islam for Public Servants is accessible at https://www.ispu.org/government-administrators-toolkit/.

Download Dissemination Language / Sample Email to Government leaders & HR Officials

MAPS Response to EO 14035 on DEIA in the Federal Workforce

Please review MAPS Response to Executive Order 14035 on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) in the Federal Workforce, support and amplify this important and substantive Blueprint for Action below.

Muslim Americans in Public Service Response to Executive Order on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA) in the Federal Workforce

A Blueprint for Action

Washington, D.C., July 30th, 2021 —Muslim Americans in Public Service (MAPS), a national nonprofit network of Muslim American public servants committed to building more just and equitable government institutions, welcomes President Biden’s Executive Order on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Federal Workforce, signed on June 25th, 2021.  In response to the Executive Order, MAPS offers a roadmap to advance diversity and inclusion efforts, with a focus on Muslim Americans in the federal workforce.

The Executive Order affirms that:

As the Nation’s largest employer, the Federal Government must be a model for diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility, where all employees are treated with dignity and respect. Accordingly, the Federal Government must strengthen its ability to recruit, hire, develop, promote, and retain our Nation’s talent and remove barriers to equal opportunity.

And extends the scope to substantively include religious minorities:

It also includes individuals who belong to communities that face discrimination based on their religion or disability; first-generation professionals or first-generation college students; individuals with limited English proficiency; immigrants…

MAPS recognizes that the Biden Administration has made strides in advancing diversity, equity and inclusion over recent months, including the January 20th signing of Executive Order 13985 on “Advancing Racial Equity and Support for Underserved Communities” and the Presidential Proclamation on “Ending Discriminatory Bans on Entry to The United States,” which ended the Muslim Ban that had separated so many Muslim American families.

We have seen several welcome and historic Presidential nominations and appointments, including the confirmation of the first Muslim Article III Federal Judge. In addition to many Muslim Americans appointed to various Executive branch roles, the Biden Administration has also nominated ten Muslim Americans for Senate-confirmed positions to date. All of these appointments and nominations help to ensure that our Federal government personnel reflect the true diversity of our country.

Despite gains made, structural barriers to the advancement of Muslim Americans in the Federal workforce continue to this day. As research by the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU) confirms, as a religious minority, an ethnically diverse group (half of whom are immigrants), and a third of whom are Black, American Muslims are at a unique demographic intersection that makes them vulnerable to hate crimes. 

Federal employees have shared their experiences of bullying and anti-Muslim discrimination in the workplace, as well as observing training programs that perpetuate anti-Muslim bias. We’ve also seen anti-Muslim legislation across jurisdictions, as well as discriminatory policing, bias in media representation and in the legal system, and the use of anti-Muslim rhetoric and statements by political candidates and elected or appointed officials.

To operationalize the Executive Order, we offer the following recommendations to advance DEIA in the Federal workforce:

1.Integrate Countering Islamophobia into DEIA Policy. Name Islamophobia and anti-Muslim bigotry as priority areas to assure inclusive policies and work environments, and include the same within existing or future diversity, equity, inclusion, and special emphasis efforts, statements, policies and written materials.

2. Collect Disaggregated Data on Religious Minorities. Collect and analyze data on employees who self-identify as Muslim to ensure they are treated equitably and free from harassment and discrimination.

3. Eliminate Anti-Muslim Bias in Federal Workforce Trainings. In some government-sponsored trainings and programs, Islam and Muslims are portrayed as violent and incompatible with broader society, provoking fear and suspicion of Muslims in national institutions. We request a vetting process for such training, in partnership with Muslim American civil society and civil rights organizations, to ensure the successful removal of Islamophobic materials and anti-Muslim bias in training programs.

4. Standardize Law Enforcement and National Security Programs and Engagement. Set consistent and non-discriminatory guidelines for government vetting of individuals and organization by:

  1. Creating equal and consistent rules of when vetting is or is not required, in order to standardize, streamline and combat overt discrimination from government programs and engagements. Muslims and Muslim organizations are subject to vetting more frequently and broadly than non-Muslim groups, which are only vetted for principal level considerations.
  2. Revisiting FBI rules of engagement with certain organizations, as the FBI’s determination is often followed by other government agencies. Some Muslim organizations are placed in a “pending phase” for years with no clear evidence against them or recourse.

5. Ensure Fairness and Equity in the Security Clearance Process. Ensure that documented anti-Muslim advocacy/ Islamophobia is considered in the security clearances process, and that those who express such views are held accountable.

6. Strengthen the EEO Grievance Processes Across the Interagency. Provide transparent and accessible guidance on redress and grievance processes for employees who experience Islamophobia or anti-Muslim bigotry in the workplace.

7. Ensure Unbiased and Accountable Leadership in Government. Ensure that documented anti-Muslim activity, advocacy or animus is considered in non-career Executive appointments and career appointments to the Senior Executive Service (SES) across the Federal interagency.

8. Resource Availability. Include language on Islamophobia and resources on combating anti-Muslim bigotry, in partnership with Muslim American civil society and civil rights organizations, by the Director of OPM and Chair of the EEOC, in order to identify and help prevent “bias against underserved communities,” pursuant to Section 9 of the Executive Order (Training and Learning), which states:

The Director of OPM and the Chair of the EEOC shall issue guidance and  serve as a resource and repository for best practices for agencies to develop or enhance existing diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility training programs.

9. Institutional Partnership. Include the broader Muslim American community, its institutions, and schools in government-wide Partnership Initiatives to ensure inclusion and access, pursuant to Section 7 of the Executive Order (Partnerships and Recruitment), which states:

The Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the Director of OPM, and the Deputy Director for Management of OMB, in consultation with the Chair of the EEOC, shall coordinate a Government-wide initiative to strengthen partnerships (Partnerships Initiative) to facilitate recruitment for Federal employment opportunities of individuals who are members of underserved communities.

The head of each agency shall work with the Director of OSTP, the Director of OPM, and the Deputy Director for Management of OMB to make employment, internship, fellowship, and apprenticeship opportunities available through the Partnerships Initiative, and shall take steps to enhance recruitment efforts through the Partnerships Initiative, as part of the agency’s overall recruitment efforts.

10. Awareness of Muslim Employee Faith Practices. Ensure Federal government institutions are aware of Muslim practices, including the observance of the high holidays of Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha (as well as Shi’a holidays of Ashura and Arba’een), the practice of fasting during the holy month of Ramadan, and the practice of offering Friday Jumu’ah congregational prayer services, and midday and afternoon prayers, either individually or in congregation.

11. Faith-Based Partnerships in Government Agencies. Following the re-establishment of the White House Office of Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships and similar offices in many Federal Agencies, government executives should also consider establishing or re-establishing faith-based initiatives where appropriate in order to support successful collaboration and outreach in public programs and further enhance trust in government.

12. White House Muslim American Liaison. We also recommend that the vacant position of Muslim-American Liaison in the White House Office of Public Engagement be filled in order to re-establish a conduit for future community outreach, engagement, and follow up on these or other concerns.

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    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.

    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.

    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 is a Foreign Service Officer with the U.S. Department of State currently serving as Vice Consul at the U.S. Embassy Amman. Previously, Mariya taught English as a Fulbright Scholar in Turkey (2015-2016) and worked as a product analyst at Liberty Mutual Insurance, a fortune-100 company in Boston.

    Mariya is a recipient of numerous national and international fellowships, among them the Thomas R. Pickering Foreign Affairs Graduate Fellowship, The White House Internship, Public Policy & International Affairs Fellowship, Mosaic Taiwan Fellowship, and Davis Projects for Peace Award. Previously, she has served with the Office of the Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan (SRAP) in Washington D.C., the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy Bangkok, Population Reference Bureau, and the Al-Imtiaz Academy, a school serving underprivileged students in her native Pakistan where she taught English and journalism for two consecutive summers accompanied by grants. 

    Mariya is an avid volunteer with the Bowdoin Alumni Office and the Fletcher Giving Office, and serves on the Executive Board of the Fletcher Alumni of Color Association (FACA), and is the Managing Editor of Charged Affairs, a foreign policy journal of Young Professionals in Foreign Policy. 

    Mariya holds an MA in security studies, international business relations, and global maritime affairs from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and a BA in mathematics and sociology from Bowdoin College. She speaks Urdu, Arabic, Turkish, and Spanish. She can be reached at finance@mapsnational.org.

    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.

    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.