I am passionate about centering refugee and immigrant voices, and especially the dreams of refugee and immigrant women, as we build movements for change and a better future in our cities and communities. I have an MA in Participation and Social Change from the Institute of Development Studies and a BA in Ethics, Politics and Economics and Modern Middle Eastern Studies from Yale University, where I specialized in women’s rights and religious conflict in the Middle East after moving from Trieste, Italy, where I grew up. I co-founded and am one of the Co-Executive Directors of Havenly, a non-profit cafe and community center with a mission to build the power of refugee and immigrant women. Our flagship program is a 6-month paid fellowship that provides low-income refugee women, especially mothers, with job training, holistic education, and community to envision real, systematic change in their communities and heal together. Under my direction, Havenly grew from a start-up to an established organization with a $1.5M yearly budget, serving 45 women and over 80 graduates and their families per year. Havenly is run by and for refugee and immigrant women, with more than 50% of our leadership across staff and board coming directly from the community we serve. I colaboratively set the strategy, culture, values, and structure of Havenly, leading a team of 7 and a board of 13 across Arabic, Spanish and English. I also developed the programmatic model, theory of change, and fundraising plan of Havenly, raising more than $3M in funds. I am proud of the impact and resilience of Havenly, and of the visions we are able to support through our transformational fellowship.