Zainab Al Suwaij, Executive Director

Executive Director Zainab Al Suwaij of the American Islamic Congress

The global women's right movement is not only a woman's movement, but a human one whose impact can be felt in all aspects of life, from the political to the religious. Zainab Al-Suwaij is the 35 year-old Co-Founder and Executive Director of the American Islamic Congress (AIC) whose mission is to build "interfaith and interethnic understanding." By promoting human rights, and social justice, and fighting terrorism, extremism and hate speech, the AIC is at the forefront of a movement that reaches out to all peoples in the hopes of establishing a real dialogue which will educate people about Islam and the diversity within it. The AIC's influence is far reaching, testifying in front of the US Senate, and ensuring that women will be able to participate in the Iraqi Parliament are just a few of the ways Zainab and the AIC have proven that their mission statement is more than the words it contains, it is global action. Tolerance and freedom are the keys to ensuring that hate and radicalism fade. To do this, the AIC is showing progressive Muslims that fear and apathy serve only the fear-mongers who wish to replace freedom and self-determination with repressive practices under the guise of reform. A poet, a political activist who took on Saddam Hussein, an instructor at Yale University, and now a woman who dreams of a world of gender equality; Zainab Al-Suwaij is brightening the world's future from the offices of the American Islamic Congress. Read more in our Non-Profit Spotlight.