March 26, 2014

Last week, elections wrapped up for MPAC's Young Leaders Steering Committee, and we are honored to announce that the Laila Alawa and Yusuf Abdul-Qadir were elected as the committee's chairwoman and vice chairman, respectively.

Alawa, a writer, researcher and cultural critic who has been published at The Huffington Post, The Guardian and PolicyMic, works as a social media associate at Unity Productions Foundation, interns at MPAC and owns a jewelry business. Alawa is the owner of Coming of Faith, LLC, a social enterprise seeking to redefine the faith narrative of American Muslim women. 

In addition, Alwas was first introduced to MPAC when she attended the 2012 Young Leaders Government Summit, which then inspired her to attend the 2013 Young Leaders Media Summit in NYC. 

Yusuf Abdul-Qadir is a social entrepreneur who works in urban planning and sustainable development, using his years of experience in community organizing and engagement to advise communities strategies to grow sustainability. Abdul-Qadir came to MPAC one year before Alawa when he attended the 2011 Government Summit and then the inaugural 2013 Young Leaders Silicon Valley Summit.

Abdul-Qadir owns Ecologique, Inc., a sustainability driven enterprise, and he is a project manager for the Swedish clean-tech company Plantagon International.

Alawa and Abdul-Qadir have been closely involved in the committee for the last year and a half. This year, the committee is focused on ensuring that there is transparency and accountability from the young leaders within the group through solid engagement and projects. The committee is dedicated to growing the network, through engaging both new young leaders and alumni.

"We are working to share the vision of reshaping the American Muslim narrative, and we want to push the

committee and greater organization to more transparency through social media efforts," Alawa said. "Finally, we hope to raise money to create sustainability for the efforts of the steering committee. It is with great anticipation, passion and excitement that the committee moves forward in their efforts for the year."

There is always space, of course, for young leader alumni to join in the committee efforts. Please contact Alawa at lailaalawa@gmail.com if you are interested. The committee is excited to see how the year ahead unfolds.