SYAZANA DURRANI

ACPE Certified Educator Candidate (CEC)

MPV Consultant/Chaplain Endorsement Committee Member

Born and raised outside of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Syazana identifies as deeply Malay and deeply Muslim. Syazana is a chaplain and ACPE educator trainee at Goodwin Living, a lifeplan community for older adults in Falls Church, Northern Virginia. She is also one of the rotation night chaplains at the local hospital, Inova Health System. 

Syazana came to the United States when she won a government scholarship for her undergraduate degrees in Political Science and International Studies, with a minor in African Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Syazana finished some graduate coursework at ISTAC (International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization), at the Islamic University Malaysia, including a teaching stint in Lahore, Pakistan, before migrating to the United States in 2009. 

Syazana won another scholarship to (then) Hartford Seminary for a graduate certificate in Imam and Muslim Community Leadership in 2018. It was her work with the on-going Afghan immigrants on the Special Immigrant Visa that led to openings to chaplaincy. From her first Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE), Syazana continued with the training in different clinical settings, including senior-living community, low-income housing community, and trauma one hospital residency. Syazana continued with her seminary training, and graduated with double Masters in Chaplaincy and Interreligious Studies in 2022. Syazana has been on the current ACPE educator training since January 2023.