Sayyeda Mirza-Jafri is a strategic philanthropy consultant. Most recently she was the Project Manager for One Nation, a philanthropic collaborative that challenges stereotypes and misperceptions of Muslim and Islam in America. Prior to One Nation, Mrs. Mirza-Jafri was engaged in developing a Middle East and North Africa leadership program for the EastWest Institute. Mrs. Mirza-Jafri served as Program Associate for the Bridging Leadership Program at the Synergos Institute, where she managed a global network of partner organizations and organized and co-facilitated the global leadership trainings in Southern Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia.
Additionally, Mirza-Jafri has foreign policy work experience in several other organizations. At the Council on Foreign Relations, she focused on issues related to Islam and was involved in the project “Pluralism in Muslim Societies.” At the Center for Strategic and International Studies she focused on the Middle East and North Africa. Mrs. Mirza-Jafri obtained a Master’s degree in International Political Economy from the London School of Economics in 1999, focusing on issues of economic development, investment and political barriers in developing countries. She graduated cum laude from New York University with a B.A. in International Politics and Middle East Studies and her honors thesis focused on Islamic reformist feminist thought. Her language skills at various levels include Arabic, Bengali, Hindi, Persian, Spanish and Urdu.