Each year, Rockwood selects a cohort of nationally recognized leaders to participate in a transformative yearlong fellowship. Since 2003, this executive leadership program has emerged as one of the nation’s leading learning laboratories for experienced social change leaders. National LIO Yearlong fellows must be nominated to apply for the fellowship, and the extensive selection process considers a great number of factors, including Rockwood’s commitment to building connections between leaders who are diverse in methodology, issue focus, geography, personal experience, and identity.
The 2025 National LIO Yearlong Fellows are:
A.C. Locklear, (Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina) is the Interim CEO of the National Indian Health Board (NIHB), an organization which advocates as the unified voice for all American Indian and Alaska Native Tribes to reinforce Tribal sovereignty, strengthen Tribal health systems, secure resources, and build capacity to achieve the highest level of health and well-being for American Indian and Alaska Native People. Prior to his role as Interim CEO, A.C. served as the Federal Relations Director, leading NIHB’s federal budget and regulatory policy priorities, including developing and advancing Tribal health and public health policy priorities to the White House and federal government agencies. A.C. holds a BA in American Studies and a JD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he serves as the Chair of the UNC American Indian Center Advisory Board. His work aims to counter barriers and improve the quality of life for American Indian and Alaska Native peoples.
Ahmad Abuznaid is a Palestinian American born in Jerusalem Palestine. Ahmad is a Florida-licensed attorney, director of the coming documentary film “Shukran”, and executive director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights & the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action. Prior to joining USCPR & USCPR Action, Ahmad co-founded the Dream Defenders, serving as its Legal & Policy Director and COO while at the organization. Ahmad also served as the executive director of the National Network for Arab American Communities from 2017 to 2019.
Amanda Alexander | Visiting Fellow, University of Michigan Ford School of Public Policy Center for Racial Justice
As a racial justice lawyer, historian, and organizer, Amanda Alexander has dedicated her career to building the power of community-based movements for social change. She founded and served as Executive Director of the Detroit Justice Center (DJC), a movement lawyering organization working to create economic opportunities, transform the legal system, and promote equitable and just cities. Since opening its doors in 2018, DJC has provided life-changing legal services to more than 5,000 people, supported the launch of three community land trusts and 14 worker-owned cooperatives, built restorative justice infrastructure, and won policy changes to reduce incarceration and foster community safety. Amanda is a board member of the Center for Constitutional Rights and has served on the national steering committee of Law for Black Lives and the board of the James & Grace Lee Boggs Center to Nurture Community Leadership. Amanda earned her JD from Yale Law School and a PhD in international and global history from Columbia University.
Anathea Chino (Acoma Pueblo) is a powerful advocate, queer feminist leader, and champion for Native voices in U.S. politics and democracy, advancing Indigenous representation through investment in infrastructure development, strategy, research, relationships, healing, and Native joy. With over 20 years as a political strategist, fundraiser, and operative, Anathea is dedicated to fighting for our collective liberation by creating pathways to leadership that will change our world. She has co-founded a number of state and national organizations including Women’s Democracy Lab, Indigenous Women Rise, and Emerge New Mexico. She also serves on the Board of Directors for Americans for Indian Opportunity, California Native Vote Project, and Emergent Fund.
Antoinette Miles is the State Director of the New Jersey Working Families Party (NJWFP). She is an accomplished organizer in electoral and grassroots campaigns, digital communications, and public service, focusing on racial, social, and economic justice. Before taking the helm as State Director of NJWFP, Antoinette was the organization’s Political Director. She also served as Outreach Director for U.S. Congressman Andy Kim from 2019-2022. Antoinette attributes her five years in the labor movement to transforming her perspective on solidarity, collective action, and justice. As communications staff at Communications Workers of America in New Jersey, she played an integral role in campaigns to build workplace and political power for the working class. Antoinette graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, and with roots in South Jersey, she now resides in Camden County, where she enjoys nurturing her growing collection of indoor plants.
Arlene Martínez | Deputy Executive Director and Communications Director, Good Jobs First
Arlene Martínez is the deputy executive director and communications director at Good Jobs First, which seeks to rein in corporate subsidies that exacerbate racialized inequality and undermine public services and empower grassroots constituencies building a more democratic economy. Before joining the organization in 2020, Arlene was a journalist at outlets including Hispanic Link News Service in Washington, D.C., the Los Angeles Times, The (Allentown, Pa.) Morning Call, and the USA TODAY Network. She became passionate about using budgets, end-of-year spending reports, and other documents to tell stories about the choices elected officials make when it comes to who and what gets prioritized. Arlene has a B.A. in Communications from UC Santa Barbara and an executive MBA from California Lutheran University. She practices gentle parenting (and partnering!) in Ventura, CA. with her daughter, son, and artist husband. Arlene’s on the board of her local neighborhood council and on the PTA.
Bahar Tolou is the director of campaigns at the Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE). She has worked on campaigns to organize low-wage workers at Service Employees International Union on Justice for Janitors and Stand for Security campaigns, as well as working with labor-community coalitions on revenue and budget, housing, and education justice campaigns. Her work focuses on campaigns that hold the largest corporations and financial institutions accountable for their extractive practices in low-income communities and communities of color.
Bethany is a skilled nonprofit strategist and team facilitator with a passion for working at intersections – where people-powered movements create systemic change, where understanding incites activation, and where people, process and technology working in supported harmony bring progressive power-building strategies to life. As a grant maker, consultant and in-house at some of the country’s most impactful nonprofit organizations, she has spent 23 years partnering with nonprofit groups to grow in scale and self-determination through independent revenue generation. Bethany currently serves as the Executive Director of Progressive Multiplier Fund and Action Fund and CEO of Multiplier Effect, whose collective purpose is helping progressive movement groups achieve sustainability and scalability by strengthening their catalytic revenue generation capacities and diversifying their financial capital. She is based in St. Petersburg, FL where she lives with and cares for her partner who is an ABI survivor and her exceptional octogenarian mother.
Celine Mizrahi is a Principal at Civitas Public Affairs, where her work focuses on “inside-outside” advocacy, bringing government and advocates together to build movements and win legislative and narrative change. Prior to joining Civitas, Celine spent nearly fifteen years in government, as a senior team member for House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, and as Deputy Chief of Staff for the NY City Council Speaker. In those roles, Celine managed complex policy campaigns and built advocacy coalitions to further progressive legislation. Celine also has an extensive background in grassroots advocacy outside of government. She started her career working directly with impacted communities to address the need for sustainable jobs and government assistance for low-income New Yorkers. After attending law school at NYU, Celine joined the Center for Reproductive Rights, working with state advocates around the country to protect and advance reproductive justice. A first generation American, Celine lives in Brooklyn with her family.
Christina Livingston | Executive Director, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment Institute
Christina Livingston is a lifelong community organizer. In 2004 she was hired as a field organizer for Los Angeles ACORN. In 2010 Christina helped form ACCE (Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment) where she worked for 2 years as Statewide Deputy Director before assuming her current role as Executive Director. In her organizing career, Christina has worked on campaigns that addressed equitable infrastructure investment, progressive revenue solutions, housing equity, access to high quality and well-funded public services, corporate accountability, good government, representative voter engagement, and criminal justice. She centers her work at the intersection of racial and economic impacts and is passionate about increasing the voices of people of color, poor folks, and women. Currently, Christina serves as the Chair of the California Working Families Party, the Action Center on Race and the Economy (ACRE), and the National Organizing Network Popular Democracy in Action.
Cliff Albright | Co-Founder and Executive Director, Black Voters Matter Fund
Cliff Albright is co-founder and Executive Director of Black Voters Matter Fund which builds community capacity related to Black voting power. BVM received national attention in 2017 when they helped mobilize Black voters during the Alabama U.S. Senate race, and later played a critical role in the 2020 election cycle, including the historic Georgia U.S. Senate runoff elections. Cliff and the BVM team have traveled throughout the country in “The Blackest Bus in America” energizing voters and exposing voter suppression. Throughout 2021, Cliff was at the forefront of the battle for voting rights—arrested five times for non-violent civil disobedience. Cliff was a 2020 Soros Equality Fellow, served as an instructor of Black Studies at several universities, and has appeared on/in CNN, MSNBC, ABC, New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian and more. Cliff attended Cornell University (undergrad and graduate degrees) and has an M.B.A. from the University of Alabama.
Corrine Van Hook-Turner leads the overall vision and strategy for the People’s Climate Innovation Center and its programs, bringing a lens of racial equity and transformative movement building. Corrine convenes and cultivates creative leadership within climate justice and deep democracy ecosystems toward a shared vision for a Just Transition to a world of interdependence, resilience, and regeneration. Corrine’s 20+ years of experience are deeply immersed in movements advancing social, economic, environmental and racial justice. As a former IDEAL Scholar (Initiative for Diversity in Education and Leadership), she witnessed and continues to nurture the compelling impact of investing in youth and disenfranchised communities of color so that leadership reflects the diversity it seeks to serve. She currently serves on the board of EARTHseed Farm, steering committee of the California Trade Justice Coalition, and the Leadership Team of Reclaim Our Power. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of California, Berkeley.
Dawn Wells-Clyburn | Executive Director, People United for Sustainable Housing, Inc.
Dawn Wells-Clyburn is the Executive Director of PUSH Buffalo, a mission-driven organization on the West Side of Buffalo, NY that mobilizes residents to create strong neighborhoods with quality, affordable housing; to expand local hiring opportunities; and to advance racial, economic, and environmental justice in Buffalo. Dawn has been with PUSH for nearly a decade, playing a significant role in the development of the Finance department before taking over as Deputy Director in 2018. In her tenure, Dawn has overseen PUSH’s weatherization program, sustainability and clean energy initiatives, advocacy on public policy related to climate and housing justice, and other social issues facing frontline communities in Buffalo.
Dennis Quirin is the executive director of the Raikes Foundation where he oversees the Foundation’s grantmaking and external impact, and supports the organization’s strategy, partnerships, systems and organizational culture. The Foundation supports Equity and Democracy, and Youth Serving Systems work nationally. Prior to joining the Foundation in 2019, Dennis was the CEO of the Neighborhood Funders Group, where he led the organization’s strategy, partnership development, budgeting, and overall management. Dennis has spent more than twenty-five years supporting social and racial equity as a funder, campaigner, fundraiser, and organizer through a variety of roles in California and nationally. He currently serves on the boards of Way To Rise, and Grantmakers for Effective Organizations. Dennis is a proud Alumni of Carleton College where he earned a bachelor’s degree in fine arts.
Dom Leon-Davis | Deputy Director of Program and Strategy, Kairos Fellowship
Dom Leon-Davis is an experienced strategist who has built his career bridging grassroots organizing, digital communications, and executive leadership to shift the balance of power to Black, brown and working class communities. As Deputy Director of Program and Strategy at Kairos Fellowship and Kairos Action, he leads a team of organizers and campaigners focused on building power in the digital realm and advocating for tech that works for all. His approach to movement building has been shaped by key leadership roles, including serving as Executive Director of an experimental digital communications hub for climate advocacy, directing national voter mobilization at MoveOn, and managing communications for New York Working Families Party. Drawing from his experience as a senior strategist on major campaigns—including Stacey Abrams’ 2018 Gubernatorial run and Reverend Warnock’s 2020 Senate campaign—Leon-Davis continues to lead at the intersection of digital strategy, organizational management, and community empowerment to drive systemic change.
Fran Hutchins (Hutch) | Executive Director, Equality Federation
Fran Hutchins (Hutch) is the Executive Director at Equality Federation, the national strategic partner to state-based organizations working to win equality in the communities we call home. Hutch has been with the Federation since 2012 and has worked on the ground with our partners to build strong organizations, develop tailored strategies, and create data-driven solutions to meet the needs of our movement. Hutch’s career has focused on building a strong progressive movement that changes the way we approach some of our most pressing social problems: poverty, homelessness, education, economic inequality, and discrimination. They are especially proud to have served as Regional Field Director for Mainers United for Marriage, the successful 2012 campaign to win marriage for same-sex couples in Maine. Hutch grew up in Birmingham, Alabama and completed an MBA and Master of Public Policy and Public Administration at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Francisca is a strategy leader in humanitarian action and forced displacement, currently focused on shaping migration governance across the Americas. As an emergency manager, Francisca has deployed to over 30 countries, leading teams in designing humanitarian protection programs in response to conflicts and natural disasters worldwide. She has leveraged her field expertise to influence the strategies of major aid organizations, including Catholic Relief Services, International Rescue Committee, and the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. Her published research spans critical issues, from exposing sexual exploitation in Iraq and advocating for the protection of Boko Haram survivors in Nigeria, to evaluating services for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and promoting war reparations in Colombia. As a consultant for the World Bank, UNICEF, and Oxfam, among others, she has provided authoritative guidance on forced displacement, led crucial reforms, and driven change management initiatives. She holds an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies and is certified by the Institute for International Criminal Investigations in war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide investigations.
Jane Norman gets things done, currently as Chief of Staff at the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center. Jane has over 25 years of executive experience leading organizations and developing talent in the social change sector. Whether serving in senior leadership at advocacy organizations, as a political appointee in the Obama Administration, or as an AmeriCorps member teaching in a middle school, Jane brings a love of learning, a deeply collaborative spirit, and has still (somehow) retained her sense of humor. She brings those qualities to whatever the challenge: whether it is navigating the White House, regulatory agencies, and the United Nations; building a values-centered and performance-based organizational culture; creating equitable systems, policies, and processes; coaching teams for belonging and results; or catalyzing powerful and effective coalitions. When Jane is not getting things done at work, she is relaxing with friends and the NYT crossword puzzle, keeping her Duolingo streak alive, or enjoying Washington, DC’s museums, theaters, and restaurants.
Jumana Musa is a human rights attorney and racial justice activist. She is currently the Director of the Fourth Amendment Center at the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. As director, Ms. Musa oversees NACDL’s initiative to build a new, more durable Fourth Amendment legal doctrine for the digital age. The Fourth Amendment Center educates the defense bar on privacy challenges in the digital age, provides a dynamic toolkit of resources to help lawyers identify opportunities to challenge government surveillance, and establishes a tactical litigation support network to assist in key cases. Prior to joining NACDL, Ms. Musa served as a policy consultant for the Southern Border Communities Coalition, a coalition of over 60 groups across the southwest that address militarization and brutality by U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents in border communities. In 2016, Ms. Musa received the Ralph Johns Civil Rights Award from the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee in recognition of her work. Ms. Musa holds a BA in International Relations from Brown University and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center.
Kierra Sims-Drake brings over a decade of experience as an organizer in the U.S. South and Appalachia, focusing on the school to prison pipeline, restorative justice for young people, and creating a just transition away from a coal dependent economy. She is a facilitator, movement builder, and educator that is dedicated to moving resources to radical, imaginative ideas. She thrives off of creating space for people to share, connect, and build together. From 2014-2017, she served on the Education Team at Highlander Research and Education Center where she played an anchoring role in both the Appalachian Transition Fellowship and the Seeds of Fire program. In 2017, Kierra traveled to Nepal, Jordan, and Chile where she learned alongside organizers and community leaders building and embodying solidarity economy principles as a form of resistance. She is currently Development Director at the Center for Third World Organizing (CTWO).
Lisa Sherman Luna is the Executive Director of the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and its 501(c)(4), TIRRC Votes. Lisa’s passion is building power and achieving a multiracial democracy in Tennessee and Southeast. As the first Latina to lead TIRRC, Lisa helped weather the COVID-19 pandemic, settle into new headquarters, and grow staff to lead robust statewide organizing efforts. Lisa serves on the National Partnership for New Americans’ (NPNA) Executive Committee, National Immigration Law Center’s (NILC) Immigrant Justice Fund Board, and Fair Immigration Reform Movement’s (FIRM) Steering Committee. She’s worked in international human rights in New York, London, and Senegal. Lisa holds a Master’s degree in Conflict, Security, and Development from King’s College London and is fluent in Spanish and English. In 2001, Lisa’s family moved to Nashville from Guatemala, shaping her commitment to fighting for an immigration system where everyone can access safety, opportunity, and belonging.
The Reverend Dr. Liz Theoharis is a theologian, pastor, author, and anti-poverty and pro-democracy activist. She is the Executive Director of the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights, and Social Justice and Co-Chair of the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival. Rev. Dr. Theoharis has been organizing in poor and low-income communities for the past 30 years. Her books include: You Only Get What You’re Organized to Take: Lessons from the Movement to End Poverty (Beacon Press, 2025), We Pray Freedom: Liturgies and Rituals from the Freedom Church of the Poor (Broadleaf Press, 2025) We Cry Justice: Reading the Bible with the Poor People’s Campaign (Broadleaf Press, 2021) and Always with Us?: What Jesus Really Said about the Poor (Eerdmans, 2017) and she has been published in the New York Times, Politico, the Washington Post, Sojourners and elsewhere. Rev. Dr. Theoharis is an ordained minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA) and teaches at Union Theological Seminary.
Mariah Moore | Director of Policy and Programs, Transgender Law Center
Mariah Moore is an award-winning national organizer and activist from New Orleans, LA. She fights for equity, equality, and safety for the transgender community. She is the co-director of policy and programs at Transgender Law Center and the co-founder of House of Tulip, which provides resources for transgender and gender non-conforming community members in New Orleans. In 2021, Mariah became the first transgender woman to run for the New Orleans City Council. Her work has been featured in various publications, including Vogue, Essence, The Guardian, New York Times, Huffington Post, and Washington Blade and many other local and national publications.
Myaisha is the Campaign Strategies Director at MediaJustice. She previously spent two years as the organization’s National Organizer on Criminal Justice & Technology, where she oversaw the launch of the #NoDigitalPrisons and #ProtectBlackDissent campaigns. Myaisha also brings several years of organizing experience with her from various national and local campaigns including President Obama’s re-election campaign, Fight for $15, and the CLOSErikers Campaign. As the grandchild of a political prisoner, she is deeply committed to organizing people power that leads to radical transformative change and justice. Myaisha earned her BA in Black Studies at Occidental College and currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.
Pardiss Kebriaei is a Senior Attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, where she has been since 2007. Her work began with a project dedicated to the representation of men detained at Guantanamo and evolved to a present focus on mass incarceration in the United States. She has written for outlets including Harper’s Magazine, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, The Nation, and other news and academic publications. In 2023, she was a Senior Fellow-in-Residence at the Liman Center for Public Interest Law at Yale Law School, where she engaged in teaching and interdisciplinary research. In 2022, she was a Practitioner-in-Residence at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Currently, she is an awardee of the Tulsa Artist Fellowship, which she is using for writing and community-based work on the harms of incarceration. She is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and Northwestern University.
Portia Allen-Kyle the Managing Director at Color Of Change, a digital-first organization leveraging campaigns, organizing, and narrative pressure against government and corporations to act on real solutions for racial justice. In this capacity she leads the organization’s strategic advocacy and day-to-day operations. She previously served as a Biden-Harris Administration appointee in the role of Senior Advisor for equity, policy, and stakeholder engagement in the Office of Civil Rights at U.S. Department of Transportation under Secretary Pete Buttigieg. For over 15 years Portia has spent her career advancing civil rights and civil liberties through a race equity lens by crafting innovative policy reports and solutions, building and supporting coalitions, and implementing legislative and stakeholder engagement strategies. She earned her J.D. from Rutgers Law School, her M.A. in African American Studies from Columbia University, and her B.A. in Africana Studies and Economics from Wellesley College.
A South Florida native, Santra Denis is the Executive Director of the Miami Workers Center, a power-building, member-led organization, organizing working-class care workers, tenants, women, and families for the rights, respect, and resources that we need and deserve. Miami Workers Center founded in 1999, has a legacy of fighting against the demolition of public housing, the displacement of working-class people, and for equitable wages, safer working conditions and treatment, and benefits for all workers. Ms. Denis has developed her own leadership as a feminist, anti-classism, and anti-racism community organizer and is committed to centering the leadership of Black and Immigrant working-class people. Ms. Denis has been very active in her community, founding Avanse Ansanm, an organization that preserves culture and builds economic and political power in South Florida’s Haitian-American communities. Ms. Denis is first generation Haitian-American. She graduated from the University of Florida with a Bachelor’s in Health Science and from Florida International University with a Master of Public Health in Policy and Management. Ms. Denis is a lover of all people and her life’s mission is to dismantle systems of oppression for the liberation of all people.
Silky Shah | Executive Director, Detention Watch Network
Silky Shah is the executive director of Detention Watch Network, a national coalition building power to abolish immigration detention in the US. She is also the author of the recently published book, Unbuild Walls: Why Immigrant Justice Needs Abolition (Haymarket, 2024). Originally from Texas, she began fighting the expansion of immigrant jails on the US-Mexico border in the aftermath of 9/11 and has worked as an organizer on issues related to immigration detention, the prison industrial complex, and racial and migrant justice for over two decades. Her writing on immigration policy and organizing has been published in Truthout, Teen Vogue, Inquest, and The Forge and in the edited volumes, The Jail is Everywhere (Verso, 2024), Resisting Borders and Technologies of Violence (Haymarket Books, 2024), and Transformative Planning (Black Rose Books, 2020). She has also appeared in numerous national and local media outlets including The Washington Post, NPR, and MSNBC.
Stephen Miles | President, Win Without War
Stephen Miles is the outgoing President of Win Without War and Win Without War Education Fund. After spending the last 13 years leading and growing Win Without War into the leading progressive organization campaigning on U.S. foreign policy, Stephen is currently exploring opportunities for his next adventure. He is a veteran of campaign politics with a strong background in grassroots advocacy, having previously worked for the global campaigning organization Avaaz, as the Executive Director of the American Hellenic Council, and on multiple federal, state, and local electoral campaigns. Stephen holds a Masters in International Relations from the London School of Economics and a BA from Tulane University. When not at work, you can find Stephen stressing about Philly sports, listening to music, or enjoying Pittsburgh with his wife and son.
Steve Paul is the Executive Director of One Pennsylvania, leading efforts for a more just and equitable society through grassroots organizing and advocacy. Before this, Steve served as Pennsylvania State Director for the State Innovations Exchange (SiX), where he worked with legislators to pass policies like rent assistance during the pandemic, uplifting working-class families. Steve’s commitment to democratic participation led him to his earlier role as Political Director for One Pennsylvania, where he helped pass historic legislation enabling mail-in voting for all Pennsylvanians. As a former public servant in Philadelphia City Council Member Helen Gym’s office, Steve was instrumental in securing water hydration stations for schools and expanding food access through a “breakfast in the classroom” program. As Executive Director, he focuses on empowering communities, advocating for affordable housing, healthcare accessibility, and workers’ rights. Steve’s journey as a Haitian immigrant and a father drives his passion for social justice and creating a better future for all.
Xiomara is the founding Executive Director of María Fund, which she started when Hurricane María hit Puerto Rico in 2017 – and since then has transformed into the social justice fund supporting a network of powerful organizations and leaders on the island. Her commitment to long term movement infrastructure has led her to build an organization with the capacity to raise and redistribute more than $20 million in funding and capacity building opportunities to more than 70 organizations in the last 7 years. Her experience as an activist and spokesperson in the student movements of 2010, and the public debt cancellation campaign complement her 18 years of professional experience working at the Center for Popular Democracy, Institute for Youth Development, Community Foundation of Puerto Rico, Fleishman Hillard, among others. She studied law at the University of Puerto Rico, and Public Relations at the University of Florida. She is passionate about the intersections of movement leadership, personal transformation and long-term strategies. She lives in San Juan, Puerto Rico with her dog Gema.
Zahra Billoo | Executive Director, Council on American-Islamic Relations, San Francisco Bay Area
Zahra Billoo is an attorney and the Executive Director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, San Francisco Bay Area (CAIR-SFBA). Since 2009, she has led the organization through twelve-fold growth, building one of the largest CAIR offices in the U.S. Her team advances American Muslim rights through legal services, legislative advocacy, and community organizing. Under her leadership, CAIR-SFBA has taken on major cases, challenging entities like the U.S. Department of Justice and Southwest Airlines. The office also provides weekly know-your-rights sessions and direct legal representation for victims of FBI harassment, employment discrimination, and hate crimes. Zahra has been featured on MSNBC, NPR, and FOX News, and has received accolades, including the Society of American Law Teachers’ Human Rights Award and PACT’s Community Builder Award.
