MPV's Microgrants
August 29th was Muslims for Progressive Values’ 18th birthday! Our founding meeting took place in 2007 at Sarah Lawrence College, where I was voted in as President and was tasked with registering the organization as a non-profit. August 29th marks that very special day when we received our official non-profit status and what a journey it has been since.
Since our founding, Muslims for Progressive Values has sought to anchor each of our positions and programs in an inclusive and human rights affirming interpretation of Islam. Our early initiatives were focused primarily on American Muslims, but it didn’t take long to realize that these values resonated globally. Since then, we have utilized our human rights framing within the U.N. systems and in educational resources, which have been translated into several languages, all available on our website.
In 2016 ,we rolled out our #ImamsForShe initiative, which has been implemented in Burundi, the DRC. and Rwanda for 9 years, in partnership with traditional local imams. The initiative has most recently expanded to Afghanistan, where we work with 400 imams and community leaders to shift mindsets and advance the rights of women and girls.
While we have incorporated our values across a diverse range of initiatives over the years, there has been one constant, yet often understated approach to our work - art. With a professional background in the arts, specifically music, I have always understood and been moved by the power of the arts to change hearts and minds. With this knowledge, I have always sought to weave the art into various aspects of our programs, including the funding and production of musical theater and films. In the next few years, we will be focusing more on advancing our mission and vision by using the power of the arts. We have started our Community Arts Grant, which has enabled us to award micro-grants to Muslims in the entertainment industry to fully develop and leverage their ideas into production. One project that I am particularly excited about is the development of a musical theater, “Welcome to my Eid,” a celebrative production with crowdsourced artistic contributions from members of the Muslim community. Stay subscribed to our newsletter or follow us on social media to learn about that later!
If you’re excited about our renewed focus for advocacy through the arts, I encourage you to please donate so we can support more Muslim artists whose stories need to be told. At the moment, not all of our upcoming projects have been made public so if you’re interested in learning more or getting involved, please feel free to set up an appointment with me.
Onward and upward…
Ani Zonneveld