SALEEMAH ABDUL-GHAFUR

Saleemah Abdul-Ghafur is currently the Director and Chief of Staff in the Office of the Chief Communications Officer at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. For eight years, she was the Director of The African Leaders Malaria Alliance (ALMA), a first-of-its-kind leadership coalition comprised of all African heads of state, working to eliminate malaria and accelerate progress on women’s and children’s health.

Saleemah was part of a national movement to end gender discrimination in the American Muslim community by participating in a civil action to give women space and voice in American mosques where they have traditionally been banned. In addition to working to establish women as prayer leaders and co-organizing a historic woman-led prayer in New York City, Abdul-Ghafur edited LIVING ISLAM OUT LOUD: American Muslim Women Speak, the first anthology collecting the voices of American Muslim women. The book presents American Muslim women dealing with the complexities of forging their own identities while contributing powerfully to public life. She is a graduate of Columbia University.