Our team

Our Board of Directors

Dr. Hatem Bazian is the leading scholar in the Islamophobia Studies field having founded the Islamophobia Studies Center, Editor-in-Chief of the Islamophobia Studies Journal, co-founder and current President of the International Islamophobia...

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Dr. Hatem Bazian

Chairman

DFW community leader for 20 years and MLFA board member. Co-Founder and past president CAIR-DFW, founder and past board member Islamic Center of Austin. current director www.IslamStory.com , founder and current board...

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Mouffa Nahhas

Board Treasurer

Jamal Suleiman, Esq.

Board Secretary

Arshia Ali-Khan is the Chief Executive Officer of the Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA). She provides executive leadership for MLFA’s national work to protect the civil liberties and constitutional rights of...

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Arshia Ali-Khan, M.A.

Ex-officio Board Member CEO of MLFA

Irum Rahman is a Bay Area–based workers’ compensation attorney who has practiced since 2010 and previously served as a workers’ compensation judge in San Francisco. A mother of three, she is also...

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Irum Rahman

Board Member

Furqan’s legal practice is devoted entirely to Immigration and Nationality Law. His practice includes the representation of companies seeking visas for their employees as well as the defense of aliens in federal...

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Furqan Sunny Azhar, Esq.

Board Member

Our Leadership

Arshia Ali-Khan, M.A. Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA) Arshia Ali-Khan, is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA), the nation’s premier...

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Arshia Ali-Khan, M.A.

Chief Executive Officer

Marium Uddin Legal Director Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA) Marium S. Uddin has dedicated significant time to humanitarian advocacy, coordinating legal and strategic support for vulnerable communities affected by conflict, displacement,...

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Marium Uddin

Legal Director

Our Legal Committee

Jamal Suleiman, Esq.

Legal Committee

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Furqan Sunny Azhar, Esq.

Legal Committee

Mehreen Nadeem earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Houston Law Center and is licensed to practice law in Texas and Washington state. Her current focus is in commercial and civil...

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Mehreen Nadeem

Legal Committee

Waleed Naser, a proud MLFA alumnus, is the founder and principal attorney of Naser Immigration Law, LLC, where he focuses on federal immigration litigation, asylum, and family-based immigration. He has filed dozens...

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Waleed Naser, Esq.

Legal Committee

Our Department Heads

Charles Swift is the Criminal Department Head at MLFA´s legal Division. He was named by National Law Review as one of the top 100 legal minds in the nation. He is a...

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Charles Swift

Criminal Defense Department Head

Kathryn (“Kate”) Brady has practiced as an Immigration & Nationality Law attorney since 2006 with extensive experience in family-based & employment-based petitions before U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Department of...

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Kathryn H. Brady

Immigration Department Head

Sana Saleem joined MLFA in 2023 as the Nonprofit Department program manager and staff attorney. She was previously a visiting assistant clinical professor with the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy....

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Sana Saleem

Nonprofit Department Program Manager & Staff Attorney

Our Legal Team

Chelsea Glover began her legal career in civil litigation in 2015, and she is excited to join the Constitutional Law Center for Muslims in America’s Civil Litigation Division as a Senior Staff Attorney. Before joining CLCMA, Chelsea primarily...

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Chelsea Glover

Civil Litigation Senior Staff Attorney

Franchel Daniel began her legal career in civil litigation, focusing on product liability defense. She has represented clients in both state and federal courts. While studying abroad in London, United Kingdom, through...

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Franchel Daniel

Immigration Senior Staff Attorney

Sufia joined the criminal defense department in 2019 and works on federal criminal national security cases. Her work involves Muslim defendants investigated by the FBI´s counter-terrorism division (often cases of entrapment) and...

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Sufia Khalid

Criminal Defense Senior Staff Attorney

Huma Khan is a not-for-profit and family-based immigration attorney, and one of the founders of The Law Office of Tajuddin & Khan PC located in the Chicagoland area. She grew up in Columbus,...

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Huma Khan

Nonprofit Senior Staff Attorney

Samira Elhosary graduated from American University Washington College of Law in 2021. While in law school, she was the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Human Rights Brief, a staffer on the Journal of Gender,...

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Samira Elhosary

Civil Litigation Staff Attorney

Jinan Chehade graduated from Georgetown University Law Center in 2023, building her experience in civil litigation and advocacy along the way. Jinan worked at the Department of Justice Civil Rights Special Litigation...

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Jinan Chehade

Civil Litigation Junior Staff Attorney

Ali Boyd joins MLFA as a Staff Attorney in the Civil Litigation Department. Ali brings her experience of five years as a human rights attorney, based in Washington, D.C. Ali draws on her litigation and policy experience...

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Ali Boyd

Civil Litigation Staff Attorney

Shafeen Pittal joins MLFA as a Staff Attorney in the Criminal Defense Department. She recently completed a federal clerkship for Judge Matthew F. Kennelly of the Northern District of Illinois. Shafeen graduated...

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Shafeen Pittal

Criminal Defense Staff Attorney

Chelsea joined the MLFA team as an appellate attorney in the criminal defense department because she is passionate about fighting injustice within the legal system. Her background in federal public defense and...

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Chelsea Estes

Criminal Defense Appellate Attorney

Rana joined MLFA’s Civil Litigation Department as a paralegal in 2024. She holds a B.S. from San Jose State University in Justice Studies with a concentration in Criminology. She began her legal...

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Rana Hakim

Civil Litigation Paralegal

Jamal joined MLFA in 2025. He graduated from Rice University in 2024 with a B.A. in Sociology, specializing in Politics, Law, and Social Thought. While at Rice, Jamal edited the Rice Journal...

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Daanesh Jamal

Criminal Defense Department Paralegal

Islam Zebi joined MLFA’s legal department, CLCMA, in 2023 as an Immigration Paralegal. Islam earned a Paralegal Studies Associates Degree from Collin College. She started her paralegal career working at the Domestic...

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Islam Zebi

Immigration Department Paralegal

Haaris Malik joined MLFA in 2025. He graduated magna cum laude from Loyola University Chicago with a B.A. in Political Science and minors in Arabic and Economics. During his time at Loyola,...

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Harris Malik

Nonprofit Department Paralegal

Our Staff

Ruhama Berta is a multi-faceted communications and marketing specialist with over 5 years of non-profit experience with skills in print and digital design, social media marketing, public relations and so much more!...

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Ruhama Berta

Marketing & Communications Manager

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Mujahid Rasul

Donor Relations Account Manager

Aisha joined the Muslim Legal Fund of America as an Attorney Consultant with their Nonprofit Department, and currently supports MLFA’s Training and Development. Aisha U-Kiu is a seasoned attorney, mediator, and social entrepreneur with...

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Aisha U-Kiu

Training & Development Manager

Adnan Alhabian is the AMLE Project Manager at MLFA. He is currently leading the development of the American Muslim Legal Ecosystem (AMLE) Project—a custom-built web application designed to serve the American Muslim...

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Adnan Alhabian

AMLE Project Manager

Iman joins MLFA as a Marketing Coordinator. As a Dallas native, she graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in May 2025 with a BBA in Marketing and a minor in...

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Iman Baraso

Marketing & Communications Coordinator

With over 12 years’ of experience, her impressive background in customer service, relationship-building, and project management speaks volumes about her capabilities; she has served over 500 major clients while at the Islamic...

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Syeda Sadiqa

Accounting and Finance Coordinator

Rachel Smith joined MLFA in 2025. She earned her B.S. in Family Sciences and Human Development from Brigham Young University in 2024. During her undergraduate studies, she was selected as a Wheatley...

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Rachel Smith

Client Service & Intake Specialist

Our Consultants

Catherine McDonald has been practicing criminal law since she graduated from Seattle University School of Law in 1994. She was a state public defender for over 15 years, handling a high volume...

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Catherine McDonald

Administrative Consultant

Eaman Shebley is a visionary financial leader and Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with two decades of experience transforming organizations through strategic financial management. Holding a Master’s in Accounting & Financial Management and...

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Eaman Shebley

Fractional CFO | Advocate for Social Justice

Maria Guzman became an integral part of the Muslim Legal Fund of America in 2020, initially joining as an Executive Assistant to the CEO, and currently also serving as Operations Coordinator. Her...

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Maria Guzman

Operations Coordinator Consultant & Executive Assistant to CEO

Our Interns

Josue Rodriguez is a second-year law student at the University of Colorado, joining MLFA as a legal intern in the Immigration Litigation Department. In law school, he has participated in mock trial,...

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Josue Rodriguez

Immigration Litigation Department Intern

Mariam Ahmad is a senior in high school who is excited about math and computer science. She plans to study Applied Mathematics or Computer Science in college and hopes to get into...

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Maria Ahmad

Ai Specialist Intern

Board Advisors

Zainab Ellam is a dedicated mother, wife, philanthropist, and business owner with a background in banking, finance, customer relations and community service. With extensive experience in the finance sector, she has worked with...

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Zainab Ellam

Advisor

Mehmood Bheda is an influential leader that has the ability to educate, motivate and bridge the gap to achieve results by building long-term internal and external stakeholder relationships. He maintains a history...

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MEHMOOD A. BHEDA

Advisor

S. Lee Merritt, Esq. commonly known as “the people’s lawyer”, is emerging as an influential new voice in the fight for Social Justice. A Civil Right’s activist and attorney, Merritt runs a...

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Lee Merritt, Esq.

Advisor

Muna Hussaini is a mother, tech executive, and accidental community activist. She is currently Senior Director, Strategic Programs at Cornerstone onDemand and has worked in tech for 20+ years in across IBM, eBay,...

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Muna Hussaini

Advisor

Akram is an American entrepreneur and business leader who believes in compassionate capitalism, free trade and inclusive growth for all. A social entrepreneur who has promoted and fostered education, primary health, social...

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