The RISE conference centers Muslim women’s voices by building a social network, providing concrete steps for change, and inspiring women to use their own strengths to positively affect social issues.
Our theme this year, SELF-LOVE & LIBERATION, reminds us that loving ourselves is part of liberating our communities. Join us for a day of inspiration and motivation as we learn from Muslim women practitioners of self-care and community care.

Date and time: Sat, Mar 11, 2023, 8:00 AM CST
Location: Sheraton Bloomington Hotel, 5601 West 78th Street Bloomington, MN 55439

Keynote Speaker

Angelica Lindsey-Ali: The Village Auntie
Angelica Lindsey-Ali aka The Village Auntie™ is a certified sexual health educator, researcher, storyteller, author, and recognized authority in intimacy cultivation and emotional well-being.  She teaches from both an African and Islamic perspective. With over 20 years of experience in public and behavioral health, Lindsey-Ali draws upon her clinical, cultural and religious training to educate women about spirituality and intimacy from an Islamic lens. She is the founder of The Village Auntie Institute, a global learning community with women representing 86 different countries. 

Muna Scekomar: Master of Ceremony
Muna Scekomar will be our Master of Ceremonies at this year’s conference. Muna is the founder of Beautiful Light Studios, the production house for The Digital Sisterhood podcast. She is a producer, a filmmaker, and a teacher.

Workshops & Sessions

Dr. Abyan Bashir
Dr Abyan Bashir just completed her doctoral studies in clinical psychology and specializing in trauma, the neurology of trauma, and development. Dr. Bashir has worked to impact clinics, governmental agencies, and advocacy organizations that work the BIPOC community and immigrant communities in MN.  She began her community work by creating Let’s Talk Therapy, a Snapchat channel to offer information and resources to community members to counteract the mental health stigma. She is an avid advocate for culturally appropriate mental health care as research has indicated that mental health has cultural presentation and appraisal.

Additionally, in hopes to contribute to research that informs working with children of immigrants, Dr. Bashir focused her dissertation research on understanding the barriers to care for 1.5 generation

Alex Fox
Alex Fox  is a Muslim American writer, founder, and builder committed to building inclusive technology and teams. Alex is the founder of Origin of Mind, a lifestyle brand and ecommerce platform designed to raise awareness and channel support for critical social issues. Their latest product, Marketplace, amplifies independent creators of color by helping bring their businesses online. 
 Alex has led Product & Engineering teams at Warby Parker and TONL, building technology at scale to serve millions of global customers. She is currently exploring ways to better engage, support, and foster community through personal transformation and service, and regularly hosts conversations around faith, identity, and justice in partnership with Muslim scholars and leaders. 

Dr. Tamara Gray
Dr. Tamara gray is a founder of Rabata, an organization dedicated to promoting positive cultural change through creative educational experiences. She holds a doctorate in leadership from the University of St. Thomas, a master’s degree in Curriculum Theory and Instruction from Temple University, and spent twenty years studying traditional and classical Islamic sciences, Quran, and Arabic in Damascus, Syria. Dr. Gray worked in the field of education for twenty-five years before moving into the non-profit world. She is now both the Executive Director of Rabata and its Chief Spirituality Officer. Her work includes the daily nitty gritty of project design as well as the support and mentorship of hundreds of women around the world. She is the instructor for more than ten subjects at Ribaat, teaches RabaTeens, and contributes to curriculum development.

In addition to her work at Rabata, Dr. Gray sits on the Collegeville Institute’s Inter-religious Fellows Program, working to develop educational programming for faith leaders around social justice issues.

Economic Empowerment Panel

• Hilal Ibrahim: the California born, Minnesota-based designer of the first medical-grade healthcare hijab and CEO of Henna & Hijabs, the groundbreaking U.S based company addressing the lack of access Muslim women face in finding sustainable, fashionable hijabs and organic henna in retail settings. In the fall of 2019, Hilal launched the first ever healthcare hijab into HealthPartners and Park Nicollet Healthcare system. In the summer of 2021, Henna & Hijabs partnered with retail giant Nordstrom to launch the retailer’s first- ever line of hijabs. This partnership was one of the first of its kind for any retailer in the U.S. Since partnering with Nordstrom, Hilal has been named to Minneapolis-St. Paul Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 list, Twin Cities Business 100 People to Know in 2022 and a global list of 100 Muslim Startups to Watch in 2022. A healthcare professional by training, she also serves on the Park Nicollet board of directors.
• Jordan Karim: the founder of Flora & Noor and previous research chemist and pharmaceutical consultant who created skincare brand Flora & Noor to transform the beauty industry with clinically effective, clean, and halal certified skincare products that everyone can feel proud to use. Flora & Noor is an innovative skincare brand that targets the skin concerns of those with melanin rich skin and chronic skin conditions (eczema + hyperpigmentation) and solves the vacancy of halal certified skincare in the US by pushing the boundaries of high performance skincare and environmental and social consciousness with the power of plants, inclusivity, and innovation.
• Hibaaq Abdillahi: a digital community builder with over nine years of writing, marketing, public relations and social media experience. Having worked on campaigns for Fortune 500 companies like Amazon, Meta and Salesforce to build social presences at tech startups like Oyster HR and The Mom Project, Hibaaq has “done it all” in the communications industry. With a strong passion for diversity, equity and inclusion, her goal is to make all under-represented groups feel seen through marketing and advertising. 

Performers
Aint Afraid: The movement & artist group Aint Afraid is dedicated to empowering, inspiring, uniting, and motivating people all over the world in goodness. From spoken word, to songwriting, singing, rap, and other creative means, this multi-talented duo use their talents intentionally in ways that people will listen.