Meet the Moderator
Zena Chafi, Fresno Community Organizer, Council On American-Islamic Relations
About the Moderator
I am a Masters of Public Health Student at Fresno State and a community organizer with CAIR as well as an active community member. Growing up in Fresno, I have seen how racism, divisive policies, and your zip code define the quality and longevity of your life. Even after many years of the outlining of redlining, the minority communities are still suffering. The inequities in the communities have resulted in an average of 20 years of decrease in one’s life. As a passionate social justice advocate and public health graduate student, I am committed to making sure underserved communities get the resources and equal treatment they deserve to maximize the quality of their life.
Being a community organizer at a civil rights nonprofit and apart of the board of the MSA, I have worked and organized with many different faiths such as the Christian, Sikh, Hindu, and Jewish community to come together and understand what it means to identify with different faiths in the 21st century and stand together against the injustices around us. Fresno State MSA hosted an interfaith conference in collaboration with Fresno Pacific University to discuss the impact of our nation’s divisive political events on these faith communities and some of the hopes and challenges they face moving forward. Additionally, Fresno State MSA offered an interfaith ceremony where a vigil was held for the victims of the New Zealand mosque terror attack. Religious leaders of various faiths spoke to a crowd of more than 100 people about the importance of standing together in solidarity and speaking out against hate and intolerance both in the local community and throughout the world. Finally, MSA. CAIR, and Jakara Movement Club of Fresno State are working together to develop an islamophobia and bystander intervention training for admin/students to recognize how islamophobia/ xenophobia manifests itself in today’s society, how it affects members of other faith backgrounds, and what we can do to about it
Academic Achievement
Masters of Public Health Student, Fresno State
Affiliations
- Community Organizer, Council on American-Islamic Relations California Sacramento Valley/Central California (CAIR)
- Political Outreach Manager, Muslim Student Association
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