Our attendees will have a chance to hear from movement and political leaders.
FEATURED SPEAKERS INCLUDE:
U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib
U.S. Representative Ilhan Omar
U.S. Representative Betty McCollum
Keith Ellison, Attorney General of Minnesota
Omar Suleiman American Muslim scholar, civil rights activist, writer, and speaker
Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a former gubernatorial candidate in Michigan's 2018
El-Sayed was executive director of the Detroit Health Department and Health Officer for the City of Detroit from 2015 to 2017. Appointed at age 30, he was the youngest health director in a major U.S. city. Previously, he was assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at Columbia University. He ran for Governor in the State of Michigan in 2018.
Dalia Mogahed, Institute for Social Policy & Understanding (ISPU)
Dalia Mogahed is the Director of Research at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding, where she leads the organization’s pioneering research and thought leadership programs on American Muslims. Mogahed is former Executive Director of the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies, where she led the analysis of surveys of Muslim communities worldwide. With John L. Esposito, she co-authored the book Who Speaks for Islam? What a Billion Muslims Really Think. President Barack Obama appointed Mogahed to the President’s Advisory Council on Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships in 2009. She was invited to testify before the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations about U.S. engagement with Muslim communities. Her 2016 TED talk was named one of the top TED talks that year. She is a frequent expert commentator in global media outlets and international forums. She is also the CEO of Mogahed Consulting.
Katherine Coplen, ISPU
Pennsylvania Representative Motiva Johnson-Harrell
Movita Johnson-Harrell is the first female Muslim member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 190th district. She supervised victim services for the Philadelphia District Attorney's office.She is the founder of the CHARLES Foundation which was established in 2011 after the mistaken identity shooting death of her 18 year old son, Charles Andre' Johnson.The CHARLES foundation (Creating Healthy Alternatives Results in Less Emotional Suffering) is focused on improving the lives of young people, their neighborhoods and reducing gun violence.
Cleveland Councilman Basheer Jones
Elected in November 2017, becoming the City of Cleveland's first American Muslim council representative. Councilman Jones has been recognized nationally for his grass-roots activism relating to issues of social justice and empowering those who are left out of the American dream. During the 2008 Presidential election, Councilman Jones hosted rallies in Cleveland for Barack Obama and organized a youth voter registration drive in the City.
Gold Star Father Khizr Khan
Khizr Khan is the Pakistani American father of United States Army Captain Humayun Khan, who was killed in 2004 during the Iraq War.
Virginia Delegate Sam Rasoul
Sam Rasoul was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in January 2014.He is the one of two Muslim members of the Virginia General Assembly.He represents the 11th District, which is made up of part of the City of Roanoke.
Pennsylvania State Senator Sharif Street
Ken Martin, ASDC President & Vice Chair
Ken Martin is currently serving his fifth term as Chairman of the Democratic Farmer Labor Party (DFL) in the Democratic Party of Minnesota. He is the longest serving Chairman in the 75-year history of the DFL.
Seema Nanda, Chief Executive Officer, Democratic National Committee (DNC)
Seema Nanda became Chief Executive Officer of the Democratic National Committee on June 28, 2018. Seema had served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, where she oversaw strategy and manages day-to-day operations. Prior to that, Seema was Chief of Staff to then-Secretary Tom Perez at the U.S. Department of Labor. While at the Labor Department, she also worked as Deputy Solicitor and as Deputy Chief of Staff and Senior Counselor to Perez, managing a portfolio that included immigration, workforce development, and internal management issues. Seema served on DNC Chair Tom Perez' transition team, which took a fresh look at the committee's operations following the 2016 election and put in place an infrastructure that contributed to wins in 2017 and 2018.
Cheyenne Davis, National Director, DNC Best Practices Institute
Cheyenne is the National Training Director of the Association of State Democratic Committees and Democratic National Committee’s Best Practices Institute (BPI). She comes to the BPI from the Kansas Democratic Party, where she served as the Deputy Executive Director, as well as the Field, Political, and Data Director. Previously, she worked for the Kansas State Senate Democratic Leader, as well as the Kansas Racing and Gaming Commission. Cheyenne graduated from the University of Kansas with degrees in political science, American studies, and history. Cheyenne is from Topeka, KS, and is a devoted fan of the Kansas Jayhawks.
Dilara Sayeed, Co-Founder & Board President, IL Muslim Civic Coalition
Ani Osman-Zonneveld, Muslims For Progressive Values
Ani Zonneveld is a writer, singer/songwriter, founder and President of Muslims for Progressive Values (MPV), an international human rights organization that advocates for social justice and equality for all, a strong supporter of freedom of expression and of conscience, women’s rights and as an ally, LGBTQ rights. Ani promotes these values at the United Nations by challenging human rights abuses in the name of Islam, and by offering an inclusive understanding based on universal human rights and justice. Since its inception, Ani has presided over MPV’s expansion to include chapters in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Atlanta, Washington D.C., New York, Boston, Columbus and Chicago, and spearheaded the founding of Alliance Of Inclusive Muslims, made of members spanning five continents.
Dr. Catherine Orsborne, Executive Director, Shoulder to Shoulder
Catherine Orsborn has served as the Director of Shoulder to Shoulder since 2014. Previously, Catherine co-led the Social Justice Community at the University of Denver while working on her doctoral studies in religion, conflict and peace. She also worked as a researcher at the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, examining the interactions between religion and peace-building in deeply divided societies.
Scott Simpson, Public Advocacy Director, Muslim Advocates
Scott Simpson serves as Muslim Advocates’ public advocacy director. Scott leads a department that leverages communications and campaigns to impact policies, news coverage, and public opinion about American Muslims. Scott has previously served on faculty of the Howard University School of Communications and as the director of media and campaigns for the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, where he directed and executed advocacy campaigns and media initiatives for a 200+ member coalition of diverse national civil rights groups, with emphases on education, voting rights, criminal justice and policing reform, immigration, fair housing, fair lending, LGBT equality, federal nominations, and more. There, he also authored reports on the state of voting rights in the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s gutting of the Voting Rights Act in Shelby v. Holder, including “The Great Poll Closure” and “Warning Signs.”
Sister Simone Campbell, Network Lobby
Sister Simone Campbell has served as the Executive Director of Network Lobby For Catholic Social Justice since 2004.
She is a religious leader, attorney and poet with extensive experience in public policy and advocacy for systemic change.Around the country, she is a noted speaker and educator on these public policy issues. She has led six cross-country “Nuns on the Bus” trips, focused on economic justice, comprehensive immigration reform, and voter turnout.
Ibraham Qatabi, Constitutional Justice
Ibrahim Qatabi is a senior legal worker at the Center for Constitutional Rights, where he helps coordinate a large network of pro-bono counsel representing Guantanamo Bay detainees and assists with attorney-client meetings at the prison. Mr. Qatabi also serves as a U.N./U.S. advisor to the Nobel Peace Laureate Tawakkol Karman of Yemen. He was also a lead advisor on the UN Secretary General's High-Level Panel on the Post, 2015 Development Agenda.
Shaun Kennedy, JetPac
Executive Director and Co-Founder, Shaun is a legally trained organizer who served as Nadeem Mazen's Deputy Campaign Manager in 2015 and co-founded Jetpac to help ensure fair representation of minority communities at all levels of government.
Zarina Baber, Co-Chair, Muslim Caucus of America
Community organizer and IT executive. Zarina was the founder of one of the 1st Muslim volunteer-based, free clinics in the Nation. She served on the Board of Advocates for Human Rights and is a founding member of the Muslim Caucus of America. Zarina also made history as the first Muslim woman to run for State-wide office as a candidate for MN's Lt. Governor in 2018.
Rummi Khan, Founder, illMuslims
Daniel I. Weiner, Brennan Center for Justice
Sevim Kalyoncu, Green Muslims
Sevim discovered at an early age that her most direct connection with God came through nature. She holds a B.S. from Georgetown and a M.A. from the University of Chicago. She also has many years of non-profit experience in Washington, DC and the San Francisco bay area.
Usra Ghazi, America Indivisible
Usra Ghazi, Director of Policy and Programs at America Indivisible and a Senior Fellow at the Religious Freedom Center. She was the US State Deptartments's Strategic Designer for Collaboratory, Education and Cultural Affairs in 2017-2018 and the Foreign Affairs Officer , Policy Advisor for Office of Religion and Global Affairs in 2015-2017.
Tahirah Amina-Wadud, Congressional Candidate (2018)
Tahirah Amina-Wadud runs a successful law practice in Western Massachusetts with a focus in domestic relations and civil rights law. She is a graduate of Elms College in Chicopee and Western New England University School of Law in Springfield. Tahirah was named a 2016 Top Woman of Law by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. As a volunteer commissioner for the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women, Tahirah advocates before the state legislature to enact laws responsive to the needs of women and girls. She is a member and volunteer for the Family Advisory Council of Boston Children's Hospital. She was a candidate for the congressional seat for First District of Massachusetts Democratic primary in 2018.
Luqmaan Bokhary, Young Muslim Democrats
Corey Saylor, Managing Director of Rights & Inclusion, Rethink Media
Corey is an expert on political communications, media relations and anti-Islam prejudice in the United States with over 22 years of experience.
Sabina Taj, Howard County, Board of Education
Asima Silva, Wachusett Regional School District Committee
Farhana Khera, President & Executive Director, Muslim Advocates
Farhana Khera is the first executive director of Muslim Advocates. Prior to joining Muslim Advocates in 2005, she was counsel to the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Property Rights. In the Senate, she worked for six years directly for Senator Russell D. Feingold (D-WI), the Chairman of the Constitution Subcommittee. Khera focused substantially on the Patriot Act, racial and religious profiling, and other civil liberties issues raised by the government’s anti-terrorism policies after September 11, 2001. There, Khera wrote the first drafts of the End Racial Profiling Act and organized the first ever congressional hearing on racial profiling.
Dr. Mike Ghouse, Center for Pluralism
Dr.Mike Ghouse is a motivational speaker on pluralism, interfaith, Islam, terrorism, human rights and foreign policy. He is committed to building cohesive societies and offers pluralistic solutions on issues of the day.
Prof. Asifa Quraishi-Landes
Mayor Sadaf Jaffer
Sadaf Jaffer is an American politician and scholar. She is the Mayor of Montgomery Township, Somerset County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, having taken office on January 3, 2019, and is the first woman of South Asian descent, first female Muslim American, and first female Pakistani American to serve as a mayor in the United States. Jaffer was first elected to Montgomery's township committee in 2017. She is a postdoctoral research associate at the Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies.
Rushan Abbas Executive Director of Campaign for Uyghurs
Activist Rushan Abbas is committed to raising awareness about the religious oppression and human-rights atrocities inflicted on Uyghur Muslims to motivate Muslims in the US and worldwide into action. Abbas is a former student activist of the pro-democracy demonstrations at Xinjiang University in 1985 and 1988. She served as the Vice-President of the Students’ Science and Culture Union at the university in 1987. Since her arrival in the United States in 1989, Abbas has been an ardent campaigner for the human rights of the Uyghur people and worked closely with the members of the Congress since the 1990s.