I am a gender conforming, heterosexual, able bodied, borderline gen x/gen y, spiritual-but-not-religious Arab-American woman. I grew up sprawled across an ocean: a foot in Egypt and a foot in the southern United States. My parents immigrated to the US a few years before I was born with the earnest hope of making a better life for themselves and their families at home.

Growing up between these worlds, I learned early on how to navigate vastly different cultural contexts. In kindergarten my classmates took loud note of the garlicky stench seeping out of my lunch sack from the kofta my mom used to pack. They laughed at the way my parents talked and dressed. And at my hair, always a frizzy ‘fro, forever untamable despite my mom’s incessant efforts. In Egypt it was the dozens of cousins who mocked my weak Arabic and un-plucked eyebrows, hyper-outspokenness (for a girl), and my parents’ very taboo divorce. Always in between, I never quite fit, anywhere.

And so I learned from a young age, if I want to live in a world where I belong, I must create it. And that’s been the through line: in my journey of creating belonging for myself and others, I have lived in 4 continents, worked as a consultant/facilitator/instructional designer for grassroot nonprofits, the United Nations, and a Fortune 5 tech company.

Now I live in the Sierra Nevada foothills of California with my partner, two daughters and two cats. I am deeply grateful to be living my purpose, supporting organizations at the intersection of DEIB and leadership development and helping to create cultures where everyone belongs and can thrive.