Saadia Pervaiz
Communications Extern – Fall 2017
Saadia Pervaiz recently graduated from the University of Chicago Masters of Arts Program in the Social Sciences with a concentration in South Asian history. She joined CAIR-chicago because she believes it provides a great platform for promoting education, love, understanding, consciousness, and solidarity among the Muslim community. She hopes to use this experience to help her in her goals of becoming a history professor. She’s interested in fencing, basketball, illustration, reading, video games, photography, and hiking. She has a cat named Arcadia. She makes her own tea blends. She’s also a huge foodie.
Sabrina Wilson
Outreach Intern – Fall 2017
Sabrina Wilson is a fall Government Affairs and Outreach Intern at CAIR-Chicago. She is a 2017 high school graduate and has been a member of various non-profits such as Memphis Voices for Palestine, Memphis Against Sexual Harassment and Assault, and the Muslims in Memphis Project. As a Muslim brought up in America and coming from an immigrant background, she has always had a strong interest in minority issues and hopes to continue her work in combatting injustices throughout her career. Outside of the US, she has lived in Singapore and Dubai, and has traveled across the Middle Eastern/Asian region, which cultivated her interest in different cultures. Some of her other interests include art, literature, music, and outdoor activities.
Tamara Hijazi
Communications Extern – Fall 2017
Tamara Hijazi is a recent graduate from Bucknell University, where she studied Biology & Women and Gender Studies. While a student, Tamara helped manage the Middle Eastern Student Association, conducted research on chocolate farms while studying abroad in Panama, and was a part of BAD, an activist organization that involved both students and faculty. She joined CAIR to become more involved with the local Muslim community, hoping to help deconstruct the pan-ethnic and pan-cultural identity that it has been given by the general media. While working with CAIR, she wants to use visual media to center the lives and experiences of the Muslim community members around her, particularly those of young Muslim women. In the future, she hopes to become a professor, focusing on gender, history, and social politics in the Middle East. Tamara also enjoys learning about photography, marine biology, and sustainable agriculture.
Emily Miller
Government Affairs Intern – Fall 2017
Emily Miller is a senior at Wheaton College, majoring in International Relations with a minor in Psychology. Following a year studying Arabic in Jordan and Lebanon, she decided to pursue a career in refugee advocacy and human rights law, which is what led her to CAIR. Emily is passionate about CAIR-Chicago’s work in the ways they promote civic engagement and empower Muslim Americans in the public sphere, as well as fight for the rights of those affected by unfair and discriminatory legislation. She is also interested in creating public events that can connect and gather people from different social environments and faith backgrounds. After graduating, Emily hopes to return to Jordan to study Arabic, and then pursue a law degree or a Masters in Public Policy. Outside her work and education, Emily enjoys eating good food, salsa dancing with her friends, and attempting acoustic covers of famous pop songs.
Dania Noghnogh
Government Affairs Intern – Fall 2017
Dania Noghnogh is a fall Government Affairs intern at CAIR-Chicago. Born and raised in Chicago, Dania is a senior at University of Illinois in Chicago, studying biology and political science, with a focus in urban politics. She hopes to further her education by attending law school to study international law. As a first-generation Syrian-American Muslim, Dania feels a close connection to her roots and hopes to use her experiences to further help her local community become more politically aware. In her free time, she enjoys competing in slam poetry competitions on the local, national, and international level as well as reading and spending time with her family and friends.
Nabiha Asim
Communications Intern – Fall 2017
Nabiha Asim is fall 2017 communications intern at CAIR-Chicago. She is a senior at Benedictine University majoring in Communications. She was the Editor-in-chief of Odyssey at Benedictine/Lisle and a staff writer for a student publication. She studied abroad in China for five weeks. She will be teaching at Islamic Center of Naperville (ICN) Al-Falah Academy for the third year where she also works as an outreach director. She also spends her time volunteering for the ICN Youth Council.
Nabiha is addicted to the double chocolatey chip frappuccino, is passionate about telling the truth, and is a wannabe polyglot. She strongly believes her wanderlust and thrill seeking ambitions will let her explore new places and new ideas one day.
Peter Albright
Communications Extern - Fall 2017
Peter Albright is a fall Communications intern. He graduated from DePaul University in 2015 and went on to teach in the Chicago Public School system for a year. After his first year, Peter went on to become a personal trainer while developing his passion for video editing. Peter joined CAIR Chicago to make a positive impact working to promote tolerance and civil rights, learn from the diverse perspectives of the people who work at CAIR, and to be challenged while developing new skills. On his spare time, Peter films and edits videos, dabbles in guitar, and exercises frequently.
Elizabeth Champney
Government Affairs Extern - Summer 2017
Elizabeth Champney is a summer 2017 Government Affairs & Outreach Extern at CAIR-Chicago and a graduate student at Prescott College in Arizona pursuing her Masters in Social Justice and Community Organizing. She currently serves as the volunteer and event coordinator at the Frantz Fanon Community Strategy Center; Prescott College's organizing and community center. Her experiential education has allowed her to learn alongside community organizers in Los Angeles and along the border wall in Mexico and Arizona. Getting her B.A. in Cultural Anthropology from BYU-Hawai'i and becoming a certified cultural mediator started Elizabeth on her journey of activism and better allyship. Elizabeth has chosen to intern at CAIR-Chicago due to their radical, grassroots activism. CAIR-Chicago's on the ground experience partnered with their renounced successes attracted her further developing her community organizing and abolition skill set. Elizabeth can be found anywhere from political actions to yet again binge watching "Lost" and "Breaking Bad". She is an avid fan of anything space, Queen Elizabeth 1, and rap battle related and has never refused an invitation for sushi.
Richelle Weaver-Watson
Civil Rights Intern - Summer 2017
Richelle is a Civil Rights Intern for the session of Summer 2017. As a recent WMU- Cooley Law School Graduate, Richelle chose her position as a Civil Rights Law Clerk to continue her passion for providing equal justice for under-represented groups. During her undergraduate course work at Indiana University, she minored in Arabic and Near Eastern Cultures and has maintained an interest in issues plaguing the Muslim-American Community ever since. While at Cooley Law School she volunteered at the Community Legal Services of West Michigan and the Veteran’s Legal Assistance Program to further her service to the community at need. She has an interest in employment and labor issues and will sit for the Indiana Bar in July of 2017.
Mustafa Aijazuddin
Civil Rights Intern - Summer 2017
Mustafa graduated from University of Illinois at Chicago with a major in History with a concentration in 20th century Geopolitics and Genocides and minors in Applied Mathematics. He currently attends The John Marshall Law School and is a rising second year law student. He hopes to graduate with a certification in international human rights. Before joining CAIR-Chicago, Mustafa worked in the corporate sector gaining valuable skills in negotiation and efficient analysis. Mustafa joined CAIR-Chicago to help bring awareness to domestic concerns that the Muslim and minority communities face and to help protect the fundamental rights which are guaranteed to us all by the Constitution and the Supreme Court. Mustafa wants to ultimately work as a Human Rights attorney. He wants to serve communities that face institutionalized discrimination simply because of the religion they follow, the color of their skin, or their sexuality. When not working, Mustafa enjoys traveling to new places and finding new brunch eateries. He also loves being in the kitchen and exploring his city.
Serena J. Suh
Government Relations Intern - Summer 2017
Serena J. Suh is a summer Government Relations Intern at CAIR-Chicago. She is a senior at Wheaton College (IL), studying International Relations and Philosophy. Although she is still exploring potential career paths, she has shown particular interest in academia, art, and politics. She hopes to pursue graduate work in the future in Postcolonial studies, Political Economy, and/or Theology. Outside of her educational pursuits, she enjoys cooking, watching films, playing the piano and guitar, hosting, and meeting new people. She has also spent much of her life abroad in parts of Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, and is an adamant supporter of building international community to broaden one’s perspective. Her personal experiences as a daughter of immigrants, as well as her belief in the importance of inter-faith support has brought her to intern at CAIR-Chicago this summer.
Jasmine A. Pedraza
Civil Rights Intern - Summer 2017
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” -Margaret Mead. Jasmine earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Elmhurst College and received a minor in Spanish. Currently, she is a rising third-year law student at Northern Illinois University College of Law. In her free time, she Ioves to spend time with her husband, play with their family dog, Kiko, travel, and catch up with family.
CAIR was founded on the same principles that Jasmine strives to dedicate herself to as a professional: Principles aiming to address legal issues affecting human rights and social justice. Growing up in three households with very different cultures was unique and rewarding. She takes pride in her diverse background of the American, Iranian, Dutch, and Mexican cultures. As such, for Jasmine, CAIR feels like home. Her ambition become an immigration attorney stems from her passion to assist the immigrant community by doing everything in her power to guarantee them equal opportunities at achieving the American Dream. As an attorney, she hopes to inspire all ethnicities, races, and genders, and demonstrate that with hard work and perseverance, the possibilities are endless, even when their community faces oppression and maltreatment.
Nimah Quadri
Communications Intern - Summer 2017
Nimah is a junior studying Journalism and Marketing at Loyola University Chicago. She decided to join CAIR because being Journalism major, she believes that it's really important to have your voice heard in any way possible and through any medium. By joining CAIR, she wanted to be that voice for the people, especially Muslims who may not have the privilege to speak up. She enjoys all aspects of Journalism and through being the Communications Intern at CAIR, she hopes to expand her knowledge on what is going on around the world and how it's being portrayed in and through the media. When not working, she loves playing sports, taking pictures of anything and everything and cuddling with her cat Charlie, even though she doesn't like her that much.
Malianleh Yuusif
Operations Intern - Summer 2017
Malianleh Yuusif was born in northwest Somalia in1969. His education began in a traditional Islamic school, speaking Arabic, and then continued in a French school, so he became familiar with different cultures early on in life. In 1991, Malianleh escaped the Somali civil war by moving to Yemen, where he learned yet another culture. Living as a refugee, he was fortunate to gain a scholarship from Sana’a University, which allowed him to pursue his education. While there, he became the head of Somali association of students in Yemen and involved himself in helping other refugees to continue their education in Yemenite universities. After Malianleh graduated with his Bachelors in French Literature and Translation, he won the visa lottery to be able to come to the United States and moved there at the end of December 2004. In 2006, he ended up in Chicago where he began to work as a professional driver and to volunteer with the Somali community. While helping his community, he also went to school to learn English and then to pursue a graduate degree. He recently graduated with his Masters in Human Resource Management from North Park University. Most importantly, Malianleh is married and has two daughters.
Huma Rana
Communications Intern - Summer 2017
Huma Rana is a Communications intern for the session of Summer 2017. Huma studied Political Science and Mass Communication at Forman Christian College in Pakistan, and is currently working on a Master Thesis. She is interested in politics, human rights; gender focused activism, and serving Muslim communities. Huma joined CAIR to fight misrepresentation of minorities and Muslims, and create new narratives for Muslims and Muslim women in the media. She was drawn to the organization from the civil rights work and advocacy that CAIR provides to people of all faiths and races. She hopes to pursue a career in political journalism. Huma’s other interests include reading political philosophy, cooking, and trying new restaurants.
Henry Hill-Gorman
Outreach Intern - Summer 2017
Henry Hill-Gorman is an Outreach Intern with CAIR-Chicago for the summer session of 2017. Originally from Madison, Wisconsin, Henry still lives there because of that whole “high school thing.” As an incoming homeschool senior, Henry is very interested in pursuing a career in politics and social justice, as well as comedy and satire; and when he isn’t working on social justice efforts, you can find him taking the bus down to Chicago every Saturday where he takes improv classes. Currently, he is one of the lead organizers on immigrant rights and the New Sanctuary Movement at his home congregation of First Unitarian Society of Madison, where he also teaches religious education classes, sits on the board, and will soon be the Youth and Young Adult Chaplain. Henry decided to join CAIR because they’re fierce advocates, fighting discrimination and bigotry, and ensuring the constitutional rights of all people. Now more than ever, it is imperative to advocate for the rights of all marginalized communities and to promote interfaith based alliances. He hopes to achieve strong partnerships within our different faith communities, and knows that CAIR will further his understanding of how to be an effective advocate and ally. Most of all, Henry finds it awkward to talk about himself in the third person.
Anthony Hersee
Outreach Intern - Summer 2017
Anthony Hersee is a summer Outreach Intern at CAIR-Chicago. He is a senior Anthropology major at Syracuse University where he serves as the Chapter President of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the national men’s fraternity in music, the Vice President of the Residence Hall Association, and the Society Events Chair for the Syracuse Chapter of the National Society for Leadership and Success. He chose CAIR because he is interested in Corporate HR and he sees CAIR as an opportunity to grow in his ability to connect with diverse communities and individuals. He is passionate about event planning, entertainment, and bringing people together for special events where they are united in purpose.
Amina Amdeen
Civil Rights Intern - Summer 2017
Amina is a student at the University of Texas at Austin studying international relations with a focus on international political economy. She's a first generation college student who was born in Baghdad, Iraq and immigrated to the United States in 2007. Among her areas of interest at CAIR are Muslim prisoners' rights, asylum and refugee cases, and increasing civic engagement among older Muslim community members and new US citizens. She is also often engaged in political activism on the street level and through articles she writes for her college's publication, the Liberator. When she is blessed with free time she likes to read about economic development strategies in the third world, paint, and watch sitcoms.
Sidrah Ahmed
Government Affairs Intern - Summer 2017
Sidrah is a rising senior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where she is majoring in Chemistry and double minoring in Arabic Studies and Sustainability. Her diverse curriculum has allowed her to explore different areas of interest, while unlocking her passion for social justice. On campus, Sidrah has been involved in activism and volunteer work through student organizations that focus on racial and gender equality. Sidrah decided to join CAIR-Chicago so she could gain more experience working in social justice avenues and understand what happens behind the scenes in order to further the organization’s mission. Sidrah aspires to attend law school following graduation, and she is interested in both public interest and environmental law. Sidrah enjoys traveling, and hanging out with her “Friends”: Phoebe, Ross, Rachel, Monica, Chandler, and Joey.
Amal Mir
Civil Rights Intern - Summer 2017
Amal is a Civil Rights Intern for the session of Summer 2017. She is a Junior at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and is majoring in Political Science and minoring in Informatics. She is the president of United Muslims and Minority Advocates (UMMA) and is involved in several other on campus registered student organizations including Model United Nations, Congressional Debate, and Students for Justice in Palestine. She is a community organizer and radical activist, and hopes to pursue a career related to the realm of social justice and advocacy. Outside of academics, she loves kickboxing, writing, and cats. Her personal experiences and struggles being a Muslim in America is what brought her to CAIR-Chicago. She loves all the work they have done and continue doing to dismantle institutionalized Islamophobia and the legal services they provide to combat blatant racism and discrimination against Muslims.
Kylee Golzar
Civil Rights Intern - Summer 2017
Kylee Golzar is a senior at DePaul University studying International Studies and Women's and Gender Studies. Her research focuses on women’s resistance to conflict in the Middle East. Prior to working at CAIR-Chicago, Kylee worked as an education intern at Sarah’s Inn, a domestic violence agency in Oak Park, IL, and as a Fellow at the 47th Ward Democratic Organization. Most recently, Kylee completed an internship with GirlForward, an organization that works to support high school aged refugee girls through individualized mentorship programs. Kylee joined CAIR-Chicago because she is passionate about serving and advocating for marginalized communities. She hopes to learn more about the ways in which CAIR-Chicago combats institutionalized discrimination on behalf of the Muslim community.
Mohammed Elshareif
Civil Rights Intern - Summer 2017
Mohammed Elshareif is a junior at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He is majoring in English with a concentration of Professional Writing. His career aspirations fall between journalism and law. He loves to work on research and with energetic groups. He joined CAIR to have a firsthand experience of what it is like to work in the legal field. In his leisure time, he likes to draw, write, and keep up with watching his TV shows, like Suits, This Is Us and Stranger Things. He loves to watch fantasy/sci-fi movies, such as all of the Harry Potter movies, because they engage viewers in unimaginable worlds. During his free time, he always loves to hang out with family and friends and explore new places, foods and play board games. He is simultaneously interning for Zakat Foundation of America (ZF) as a writer.
Jena Armouti
Outreach Intern - Spring 2017
Jena decided to join CAIR-Chicago because it is an organization that deals with civil rights. She is very interested and very eager to work in this field, and CAIR-Chicago will help her gain amazing experience working with people who need help. The good work that she has heard about and all the accomplishments that this organization has done for the Muslim community is what drew her to the organization. Jena loves to run, read, and try out different foods! She is interested in pursuing a career in Human Resources because it is a field that works in the interest of employees, the people that make a company successful.
Peyton Jacobsen
Communications Intern - Spring 2017
Peyton Jacobsen is a Communications Intern at CAIR-Chicago for the Winter/Spring session of 2017. Originally from Seattle, Peyton is a senior studying Political Science, International Studies and Journalism at Loyola University Chicago. She is passionate about civil rights and has worked closely with refugee communities in both Seattle and Chicago. Peyton hopes to work in journalism and promote unbiased depictions of all people. Currently, Peyton works as a writer and editor for The Borgen Project and mentors a Syrian refugee family in her free time. She is learning Arabic and one day hopes to travel to the Middle East as a reporter and journalist. Peyton was drawn to CAIR-Chicago because of the unique outlook they take on promoting human rights. In her free time, Peyton loves to travel and be outdoors.
Shanzeh Daudi
Civil Rights Intern - Spring 2017
Shanzeh Daudi is a Civil rights Intern at CAIR-Chicago. She is a junior at Loyola University Chicago, double majoring in International Studies and Human Services with a concentration in Psychology. She is moving toward law school in the near future. Shanzeh is interested in civil rights and immigration law and is pursuing a career as an attorney to bring justice to marginalized communities exploited by the criminal justice system. Shanzeh has been made a fierce advocate for intersectional social justice throughout her university experience; while working at CAIR-Chicago, she has been able to apply this passion to empower Chicago's diverse Muslim community. In her free time, Shanzeh explores the city with her friends and looks for fun, local places with good food.
Nicole Ozark
Government Affairs Intern - Spring 2017
Nicole graduated from southern Illinois University with a major in Political Science and minors in Spanish and International Studies with a focus on the Middle East and Africa. Previously she worked as an English teaching fellow with the Colombia Bilingue program ad has interned with IDOT, the Office of Illinois Lieutenant Governor Shelia Simon, and the U.S Mission to the United Nations and Other International Organizations. Nicole joined CAIR-Chicago in order to expand her awareness on domestic concerns of the Muslim community and the help defend the fundamental rights of marginalized groups. Nicole wants to ultimately work as a diplomat, however feels inspired to work in the non-profit sector to serve her community directly. Outside of the office, Nicole loves to travel and meet new people. In addition, she loves photographing and scrapbooking her adventures.
Emina Hadzic
Government Affairs Intern - Spring 2017
Emina Hadzic is a Government Affairs Intern for the session of Winter/Spring 2017. Emina is originally from Chicago, IL. She is a senior at Loyola University Chicago completing her Bachelor’s degree with a major in International Studies with a concentration on the Middle East and minor in Arabic Language and Culture and Graphic Design. Her focus and interest in the Middle East was sparked by her visit to Qatar during her sophomore year of high school in the International Baccalaureate program. Later on in college she decided to study abroad in Morocco for four months residing in the capital, Rabat. Her time in Morocco was spent honing in on her Arabic and learning more about the Amazigh community that is dispersed throughout the country. Emina’s studies have always focused on International Law and Policies. Her decision to join CAIR-Chicago was to learn more about domestic issues surrounding the Muslim Community and to help defend their human rights. She is excited to join CAIR and looks forward to this Winter/Spring session.
Sanjana Lakshmi
Paralegal
Sanjana Lakshmi is a Paralegal at CAIR-Chicago. She recently graduated from Northwestern University, where she studied Political Science and Legal Studies. She wrote her undergraduate thesis on the prosecution of national security whistleblowers under the Espionage Act, and hopes to attend law school in a few years to work in either immigration or civil rights law. Sanjana was involved in race and gender justice-focused activism throughout college, and she was drawn to work with CAIR-Chicago due to her interest in legal advocacy and non-profit work to advance the rights of marginalized communities. In her free time, Sanjana enjoys binge-watching Netflix, sleeping, writing, exploring the city, and (when she's not in Chicago's winter) hiking outdoors.
Amal Ahmed
Communications Intern - Spring 2017
Amal Ahmed is a junior at Northwestern University, where she is majoring in journalism with minors in Environmental Policy and Middle East Studies. Amal has worked as a reporter and editor for various student publications at Northwestern. Her interest in promoting diversity in media and news narratives led her to intern at CAIR-Chicago. She hopes to pursue a career in environmental policy reporting. Amal enjoys reading books by women of color and eating Tex-Mex. Although she doesn't really watch football, she is rooting for the Cowboys to win this year's Super Bowl.
Saif Khan
Government Affairs Extern - Spring 2017
Saif is a government affairs extern at CAIR- Chicago. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a degree in Policy, International Trade and Development and hopes to pursue a career in law and politics. In his free time, he enjoys reading and listening to podcasts. In a complex world full of nearly infinite perspectives, Saif wishes to understand why and how some ideas gain relevance over others.
Andrea Lorch
Government Affairs Intern - Spring 2017
Andrea is a Government Affairs Intern for the Winter/Spring session of 2017. She is a senior at Lake Forest College completing her Bachelor’s degree with a double major in International Relations and Religion with minor in Islamic World Studies. She is interested in pursuing a career that would allow her to work closely with the Middle East in some respect. She recently studied Arabic for two months in Tangier, Morocco, which solidified her desire to continue her studies in Arabic and the Middle East. Her interest in the Middle East began with her Jewish faith, and has expanded to include her love for experiencing cultures outside of her own. However, her studies have been mostly focused on international issues, and with the rising domestic issues that have come to light, she wanted to help the Muslim Community that has always welcomed her in some way. Eventually, this desire to help led her to CAIR-Chicago, and she is very excited to see what the Winter/Spring session has in store!