Alison Weber
Research Intern - Fall 2020
Alison Weber is a second year at Michigan State University pursuing a degree in Arabic with a minor Muslim Studies. Alison joined CAIR-Chicago to contribute to the battle against bigotry and misinformation through thorough research and reporting. In the future Alison wants to continue her education in Middle East Studies and then work for the U.S State Department. In her free time Alison enjoys playing soccer, learning new languages and traveling to different countries.
Onessa Mirza
Government Affairs Intern -Fall 2020
Onessa is pursuing a major in Finance with a minor in Legal Studies at Roosevelt University while also completing a Specialization in Finance and Quantitative Modeling at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In the future, she hopes to go to law school and use her experiences, privileges, and passion for civil rights to empower the voices of the unheard, especially for those from marginalized backgrounds. She decided to join because CAIR-Chicago is known for defending civil rights, fighting against bigotry, and promoting tolerance and she firmly believes that the right to fair treatment is a nonnegotiable liberty that belongs justifiably to every person.
Raed Aluofi
Research Intern - Fall 2020
Raed is a Master’s student in Social Work at Loyola Chicago, where he studies social policy and community development. Raed graduated from Loyola in 2018 with a Bachelor’s Degree in both Sociology and Software Engineering. Raed is from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and been living in the U.S. for the last decade. His professional interests include academia, social justice, community development, policy and law. In his free time, he enjoys reading, biking, skating, and boxing. Raed is excited to be working with CAIR this summer as a Research intern. His reason for choosing CAIR was, “I chose CAIR-Chicago because I care about the wellbeing of the Muslim community at large and the development of the city of Chicago.”
Nancy Guajardo
Communications Intern - Fall 2020
Nancy is a Senior at Texas State University whose professional goals are to enhance her design knowledge and skills, learn and grow of every opportunity I have in her career, improve her creative skills and create a positive impact on people's lives through design. She decided to CAIR-Chicago, because it makes a meaningful impact on the community and her values align with the organization. It is a great opportunity to learn and expand her knowledge. Nancy reading books and articles about creativity, design, and art, listening to podcasts, volunteering at a community college one time per month, and outdoor activities like walking with her dogs.
Tala Tabsh
Communications Intern - Fall 2020
Tala is a Sophomore at Boston University, studying Economics with a minor in Environmental Analysis and Policy and Women’s studies. While she is still unsure on a definitive career path after university, she joined CAIR-Chicago to pursue her interest in activism and to help play a role in promoting a more positive view on Islam, specifically, in the United States. She likes to spend her free time reading, painting, and pursuing her other passion, photography.
Nezar Kamar
Government Affairs Intern - Fall 2020
Nezar is a native of Louisville, Kentucky. He moved to Chicago in Fall 2017 to study Political Science at DePaul University. While he has not settled on a definitive career path, he is interested in civil rights, international relations, and Middle Eastern politics. He joined CAIR to help the fight against discrimination of Muslims and Arab people in the United States. In his free time, Nezar enjoys music, exercise, reading, and studying arabic language. He spent his summer working with Feed Louisville, an organization that works to feed the houseless population. After graduating, he hopes to move to the Middle East.
Helen Do
Communications Intern - Fall 2020
Helen is a senior at Susquehanna University majoring in Communications Studies and a minor in Business. She decided to join CAIR-Chicago because she thought it would be good for her to explore communications options and get experience outside of the classroom, which makes CAIR-Chicago a great fit. In the near future, she’d like to work in social media marketing at media company, marketing their products or in fashion. In the next few years, she plans to open her own small business. She also likes to drink tea, specifically green tea and bake!
Esra Othman
Communications Intern - Fall 2020
Esra is a senior at Simmons College majoring in Communication and Media Arts. She always seeks new skills that help her approach her learning goal. She is an energetic professional filmmaker with a concentration on writing, editing stories, and the most of all storytelling. Along with her professional interests, she enjoys traveling and learn about new cultures. She’s interested in interning with CAIR-Chicago because she will have the opportunity to raise awareness on subjects that isn’t acknowledge and gain communication skills by training outside of the college.
Lauren Sabetta
Communications Intern - Fall 2020
Lauren is a recent graduate of Appalachian State University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in communications, journalism. Before graduating from Appalachian State, she studied journalism and public relations at Georgia State University. Lauren joined CAIR, because she understands the importance of advocating for civil rights, social justice and a more equitable society. In her spare time, Lauren enjoys spending time with her daughter, hiking in the mountains (when weather permits) and gardening.
Brian Coe
Civil Rights Intern - Fall 2020
Brian is currently a 2L at Marquette University Law School, where he serves as the Secretary of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Society. He recently graduated from Marquette University with a degree in Political Science, and minors in both Arabic and Spanish. Since beginning law school, Brian has used his compassion and legal skills to assist the immigrant community of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Brian joined the Civil Rights team at CAIR-Chicago to help those most vulnerable make the judicial and political systems work for them—something he plans to continue in his career. Brian’s professional interests include business and immigration law, but in his free time Brian enjoys language learning, politics, and musical theater.
Karina Oye
Research Intern - Fall 2020
Karina is currently a senior at UIC, studying Biology and Psychology, with a minor in Disability and Human Development. She hopes to go onto medical school after graduation. Karina joined CAIR as an intern in order to help fight against discrimination and bias that is so prevalent and normalized in the media today. She spends her free time volunteering as a Sunday school teacher and as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for foster children in the Chicagoland area. She also likes working out and spending time with her cat.
Mathilde Barland
Research Intern - Fall 2020
Mathilde is a senior student at Brown University where she double concentrates in Middle East Studies and International Relations. Originally from France, she also studied at the United World College of Maastricht, Netherlands and graduated in 2017. Hoping to go to law school in a few years to develop a career in immigration law and refugee representation, she believes that an internship with CAIR will be a great opportunity to learn more. In the past couple of years, Mathilde travelled to several countries where she improved her language skills and she has also been involved with Students for Justice in Palestine, alongside other advocacy works, at her university.
Joah Rosing
Government Affairs Intern - Summer 2020
Joah is a rising 2nd year at DePaul University, joined CAIR-Chicago in the Summer of 2018 because he is very interested in government affairs and human rights. Impressed with his visit and subsequent internship during, he’s returned to CAIR-Chicago in our 2019 and 2020 summer cohorts. He is also interested in domestic and foreign topics surrounding the Muslim community. He previously encountered CAIR-Chicago with the JCUA's Or Tzedek program in the summer of 2017. Some of his hobbies are sports, politics, history, and archaeology. All in all, he wants to further grow in a professional workplace and further increase his knowledge of what he is passionate about.
Ethan Jobson
Communications Intern - Summer 2020
Ethan is currently an undergraduate and a rising junior at Brown University, where he is concentrating in Africana Studies. His professional goals include writing in some form, particularly writing about sports and its intersection with issues of social justice and activism. He chose to work with CAIR-Chicago because he was aware of the organization’s commitment to activism, fighting for justice and equality, and involvement in the community and he felt working with such an organization could provide some much needed experience. His personal interests include watching movies and playing table tennis and pickup basketball or frisbee.
Raed Aluofi
Research Intern - Summer 2020
Raed is a Master’s student in Social Work at Loyola Chicago, where he studies social policy and community development. Raed graduated from Loyola in 2018 with a Bachelor’s Degree in both Sociology and Software Engineering. Raed is from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and been living in the U.S. for the last decade. His professional interests include academia, social justice, community development, policy and law. In his free time, he enjoys reading, biking, skating, and boxing. Raed is excited to be working with CAIR this summer as a Research intern. His reason for choosing CAIR was, “I chose CAIR-Chicago because I care about the wellbeing of the Muslim community at large and the development of the city of Chicago.”
Alex Freund
Civil Rights Legal Fellow - Summer 2020
Alex is a recent graduate of Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, where he served as the co-president of the International Law Society and Executive Articles Editor of the Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business. Alex also studied Middle Eastern history at Northwestern as an undergraduate and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in History. Alex was drawn to CAIR-Chicago due to its position as Illinois and the nation’s preeminent Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization. Outside of CAIR-Chicago, Alex enjoys spending his free time cooking, watching movies, and visiting the great state (and his home state) of Iowa.
Manuel Hernandez-Meza
Civil Rights Intern - Summer 2020
Manuel is studying Economics, International Studies, and Financial Economics at Johns Hopkins University where he is the President and co-founder of Enactus, a social entrepreneurship organization that creates enterprises with sustainable social impact and competes in international pitch competitions. He is also a Presiding Official of the JHU Conduct and Ethics Board. After interning as a Law Clerk at the Los Angeles Public Defender’s office and interning at the Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland’s immigration clinic, Manuel is passionate about exploring new areas of law. He is interning at CAIR because he believes in the inalienable protection of civil rights, regardless of national origin, religion, or race. In his free time, Manuel enjoys long distance running and skim-boarding at the beach.
Conor Donlevy
Government Affairs Intern - Summer 2020
Conor Donlevy is a student at the University of Notre Dame and has just completed his sophomore year. He is studying both Political Science and the Arabic language, and is involved in community outreach in the local South Bend area. Although he is originally from Hinsdale, Illinois, Conor will be travelling abroad to Amman, Jordan next year to continue his studies of Arabic. He decided to work at CAIR-Chicago in order to improve his ability to engage in community activism, and to better understand the needs of the Muslim community in Illinois and the Greater Chicagoland area. His personal interests include, international relations, languages and culture, history, and sports.
Evan Wright
Civil Rights Intern - Summer 2020
Evan R. Wright is from St. Louis and is a rising 2L at Saint Louis University School of Law, where he serves as Treasurer of the Public Interest Law Group. He graduated Cum Laude from the University of Missouri, Kansas City with a degree in Accounting. Evan contemplated a career in tax accounting but felt driven to pursue a career in law after observing the discriminatory immigration practices of the U.S. Government. He joined CAIR because he wants to be on the front lines of advocating for the Muslim community. His professional interests include non-profit legal services with an emphasis in either immigration or civil rights. He is also passionate about interfaith work. In his free time, Evan enjoys volunteering in legal clinics, playing basketball, running, and making music.
Emma Knight
Civil Rights Intern - Summer 2020
Emma Knight is a rising second year student at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. She is originally from St. Charles, Missouri and studied political science and social work at Southeast Missouri State University. Emma graduated with her Bachelor of Science in December of 2018. After graduating, Emma moved to Chicago and spent her summer working at an immigration law firm before beginning law school. She hopes to pursue a career in public interest law, specifically working in housing policy. She is passionate about serving underrepresented communities both in Chicago and elsewhere and is excited spend her summer working with the Council on American- Islamic Relations.
Robert “Gian” Rafael
Civil Rights Intern - Summer 2020
Gian is currently a rising 2L at Loyola University Chicago School of Law from Corona, California. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a Bachelor's in Economics and Philosophy. At the University of Notre Dame, he served as vice-president of the Filipino-American Student Organization and was a member of the Diversity Council. As a future attorney, Gian is interested in pursuing transactional work but plans to stay active in the community by donating his free-time in order to do pro-bono work, specifically working on immigration and civil rights cases. He is excited to work with CAIR on immigration/asylum cases as well as learn more about the experiences that Muslims and Muslim-Americans have around the United States on a daily basis. Gian is also working this summer with Chicago Volunteer Legal Services as a Summer Intake Fellow handling a wide-range of cases such as wills and estates. In Gian's free time, he likes to play video games and explore what Chicago has to offer.
Katie Hibner
Operations Extern - Summer 2020
Katie recently graduated from Bennington College, where she studied Arabic, French, literature, and political science. She aims for a career with non-profits serving asylum seekers, refugees, and other immigrants. Katie joined CAIR-Chicago in support of its work advocating for American Muslims' civil rights. Katie also loves teaching ESL, and she enjoyed the opportunities to do so for the Arab American Association of New York, as well as for two organizations in Morocco. Katie's pastimes include reading, brushing up on her language skills, and teaching herself to cook.
Nurah Ali
Communications Intern - Summer 2020
Nurah is from Worcester, Massachusetts. She’s a rising senior at Wellesley College studying Media Arts & Sciences. She’s super excited to be interning for the CAIR-Chicago Communications team. As someone who is interested in all things media and film one of her hobbies include videography. She uses video as a tool for social advocacy and a lot of her video projects focus on highlighting BIPOC narratives. Her passion for advocacy is what attracted her to the CAIR-Chicago internship program.
Monica Winter
Outreach Intern - Summer 2020
Monica Winter is a recent graduate from the University of Iowa with a bachelor’s in social work and a minor in Spanish. She is currently taking a gap year to grow as a professional before pursuing a joint masters in social work and law degree specializing in human rights, anticipated for Fall of 2021. She joined CAIR-Chicago because of her burning passion to be an advocate for minorities, seeking to see what her voice can do for the community. Monica’s previous experience includes three years of crisis intervention work at her local domestic violence shelter and serving as her sororities mental health awareness chair. In her free time Monica enjoys cooking, playing tennis with her family and traveling. She is an avid dog mom to her ten-pound Havanese.
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Natalie Myren
Communications Intern - Summer 2020
Natalie is a rising Junior at Northwestern University in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences. Natalie hopes to work in a profession through which she can utilize her experiences with Arabic, Middle East and North African Studies, and International Studies. As a Chicago native, she was interested in interning with a Chicago organization through which she could apply her growing knowledge of the MENA region. Additionally, she enjoys volunteering, so the prospect of engaging in both advocacy and activism for Muslims in America sounded perfect to her.
Giuliana Nicolucci-Altman
Research Intern - Summer 2020
Giuliana Nicolucci-Altman is a Chicago native and Summer Research intern at CAIR-Chicago. She is both an International Studies and Sociology major at Johns Hopkins University and in the fall will be pursuing her Master’s in Human Rights and Humanitarian Action at Sciences Po Paris. As a member of the Baltimore Crime Undergraduate Research Group, Giuliana has contributed for over three years to a project aimed at researching policing patterns and their impacts on communities of color in Baltimore. In addition, Giuliana has fieldwork experience volunteering for an NGO that catered to the mental health needs of predominantly Afghan, Syrian and Iranian refugees. Passionate about social justice advocacy and human rights, Giuliana hopes to leverage her undergraduate research experience at CAIR to fight islamophobia and bigotry and to involve herself in more advocacy and community-building in the communities she grew up with. In her free time, Giuliana enjoys practicing capoeira, writing, and exploring Chicago’s coffee shops.
Neshmia Malik
Communications Intern - Summer 2020
Neshmia is a rising Junior at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, majoring in Journalism. She is a columnist for the Daily Illini, an independent newspaper at the university. In her free time, she likes to de-stress in the form of painting, journaling, and writing about news that meets my eye. She find a sense of relief when putting her opinions on paper and being able to share them with her community as well as raise awareness on topics she feels are not acknowledged enough.
Onessa Mirza
Government Affairs Intern - Summer 2020
Onessa is pursuing a major in Finance with a minor in Legal Studies at Roosevelt University while also completing a Specialization in Finance and Quantitative Modeling at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In the future, she hopes to go to law school and use her experiences, privileges, and passion for civil rights to empower the voices of the unheard, especially for those from marginalized backgrounds. She decided to join because CAIR-Chicago is known for defending civil rights, fighting against bigotry, and promoting tolerance and she firmly believes that the right to fair treatment is a nonnegotiable liberty that belongs justifiably to every person.
Bilal Mozaffar
Research and Writing Intern - Summer 2020
Bilal Mozaffar is from Indianapolis, Indiana. He is studying economics and statistics at Indiana University and hopes to attend law school after graduating. Bilal has served as his university’s Muslim Student Asscociation’s public relations chair for the past two years and is a dedicated member of his community service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega. These, along with his work as a campus math tutor, have motivated Bilal to keep serving and advocating for others, which he hopes to do at CAIR-Chicago. In his free time, Bilal loves to read, spend time with his friends, and play and watch tennis, cheering on his favorite players, Venus and Serena Williams.
Alison Weber
Research Intern - Summer 2020
Alison Weber is a second year at Michigan State University pursuing a degree in Arabic with a minor Muslim Studies. Alison joined CAIR-Chicago to contribute to the battle against bigotry and misinformation through thorough research and reporting. In the future Alison wants to continue her education in Middle East Studies and then work for the U.S State Department. In her free time Alison enjoys playing soccer, learning new languages and traveling to different countries.
Abed Almajeed Alsolaiman
Government Affairs Intern - Winter/Spring 2020
Abed Almajeed Alsolaiman is a second year at the University of Chicago College pursuing a major in political science. He moved from Salt Lake City, Utah to Chicago in 2018 for school. Growing up as a Muslim and Syrian-American, he came to appreciate the civil freedoms promised to him as an American while also envisioning a future where these rights would be fully realized for all. He previously interned at the ACLU of Utah in pursuit of this goal. Abed hopes to go to law school and work in public interest law. He is thankful for the opportunity to give back to his Muslim-American community through his internship at CAIR-Chicago.
Riley Reed
Communications Intern - Winter/Spring 2020
Riley is a Communications intern for the Spring 2020 session. She is currently a student at DePaul University. She decided to intern at CAIR-Chicago to contribute to their mission of opposing intolerance and bigotry through writing and issue-advocacy. In the future, she intends to work in journalism or for a non-profit, using her voice to uplift those which are seldom heard. In her free time, she enjoys journaling, photography, and spending time with friends and family.
Sarah Basheer
Communications Intern – Winter/Spring ‘20
Sarah graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), where she studied Communication with a specialization in journalism and media studies. While in school and after graduation, she has dabbled in the different sectors of communication including promoting and organizing charity work in Chicago’s West Side, writing and editing for Muslim and secular publications, working with her local mosque, and providing an artistic piece for a Muslim American Voices anthology soon to be published. Her experiences as a young, Muslim woman have inspired her to have an active role in telling Muslim stories and viewpoints and also representing Muslims in media. In her free time she is an avid reader and baker, and she loves spending time with her cat Leia.
Michael Spehn
Civil Rights Intern - Winter/Spring 2020
Michael is a current fourth-year at Loyola University of Chicago, where he is majoring in history and political science with a minor in Islamic World Studies. He joined CAIR-Chicago to gain experience in the legal field while also helping Chicago’s Muslim community fight against discrimination and intolerance. His goal after college is to use his education and privilege to help people in any way possible. In his free time, Michael enjoys listening to classic rock/metal, playing basketball with friends, and watching his favorite team, Pittsburgh Steelers, win.
Laaiba Mahmood
Communications Intern - Winter/Spring 2020
Laaiba is a Communications intern for the Spring 2020 session. She is currently a freshman at the University of Illinois at Chicago majoring in Political Science and minoring in Spanish and Communications. On campus, she is involved in the Honors College, Muslim Student Association, and is the technology director for the Association for Justice in Kashmir. She decided to intern at CAIR-Chicago to contribute to their mission of opposing intolerance and bigotry through writing and issue-advocacy. In the future, she intends to work in journalism or for a non-profit, using her voice to uplift those which are seldom heard. In her free time, she enjoys journaling, photography, and spending time with friends and family.
Aileen Valenzuela
Operations Intern - Winter 2020
Aileen Valenzuela is an Operations intern for the Winter session of 2020. She is a senior at the University of Illinois at Chicago and will be graduating in December with a Bachelor's in English concentrating in Professional Writing and a minor in Sociology. Aileen was born and raised in the Southside of Chicago and has previously worked in Chicago Public Schools and a non-profit that helps first-generation students apply to colleges and graduate. She became interested in CAIR-Chicago because of the values that the organization upholds, in addition to the advocacy that they provide to victims of discrimination. In her free time, Aileen enjoys video games, watching movies, and taking road trips outside of the city.
Georgia Rock
Civil Rights Intern - Winter/Spring 2020
Georgia is a current fourth-year at University of Chicago, where she majors in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations with a specialization on Arabic and Modern Middle Eastern history. She joined CAIR-Chicago both to learn more about civil rights law and to contribute to the Muslim-American community in a time of increased discrimination. She ultimately aspires to be a public interest lawyer, ideally in the field of immigration or workers’ rights. Outside of CAIR-Chicago, Georgia enjoys watching movies, cooking, studying languages, and visiting her hometown, Los Angeles.
Amira Abuarqoub
Outreach/Government Affairs Intern - Winter/Spring 2020
Amira is an Outreach and Government Affairs intern at CAIR-Chicago. She is currently a student at the University of Illinois at Chicago and is studying Political Science on the Pre-Law track. She is also attending College of Du-Page and is working towards completing her Paralegal Certificate. Her professional goals consist of attending Law School to further become a Criminal Defense Attorney. In addition to being a full time student, Amira is involved with a grassroots organization called “Take on Hate Chicago”, a campaign that seeks to challenge the growing misconception and ongoing discrimination of the Muslim and Arab community in America, specifically in the Chicago-Land Area. Within her university, and previous college, she has collectively been a member of various student led groups such as Arab Student Association, Black Student Alliance and Students Justice for Palestine. Through being involved within her community, she became acquainted with CAIR-Chicago, further pursuing the opportunity to intern with the organization, where she is now excited to be part of the team during the Winter-Spring season.