Linda Sarsour

Linda Sarsour is an award-winning racial justice and civil rights activist, seasoned community organizer and mother of three.  Ambitious, outspoken and independent, Linda shatters stereotypes of Muslim women while also treasuring her religious and ethnic heritage. She is a Palestinian Muslim American and a self-proclaimed “pure New Yorker, born and raised in Brooklyn!” She is the former Executive Director of the Arab American Association of New York and co-founder of the first Muslim online organizing platform, MPOWER Change. Linda has been at the forefront of major civil rights campaigns including calling for an end to unwarranted surveillance of New York’s Muslim communities and ending police policies like stop and frisk. In wake of the police murder of Mike Brown, she co-founded Muslims for Ferguson to build solidarity amongst American Muslim communities and encourage work against police brutality. She is a member of the Justice League NYC, a leading NYC force of activists, formerly incarcerated individuals, and artists working to reform the New York Police Department and the criminal justice system.

 Linda co-chaired the March2Justice, a 250-mile journey on foot to deliver a justice package to end racial profiling, demilitarize police and demand the government invest in young people and communities. Linda Sarsour was instrumental in the Coalition for Muslim School Holidays to push New York City to incorporate 2 Muslim high holy holidays in to the NYC Public school calendar. New York City is now the largest school system in the country to officially recognize these holidays. Linda is also a Senior Fellow at Auburn Seminary along leading social justice faith leaders. Most recently, she was the National Co-Chair of the Women’s March on Washington, dubbed the largest single day protest in US history. 

She has received numerous awards and honors including “Champion of Change” by the White House, YWCA USA’s Women of Distinction Award for Advocacy and Civic Engagement, the Hala Maksoud Leadership Award from the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, 2017 Webby Awards, the Eleanor Roosevelt Human Rights Leadership Award from the Universalist Unitarian Service Committee, the Andrew Young Foundation’s Annual International Leaders Award, the Shirley Chisholm Award by the New York City Council and recognized by the NAACP New York State Conference amongst others. Sarsour was named among 500 of the most influential Muslims in the world, 50 of the world’s greatest leaders by Fortune Magazine and featured on the Time 100’s list of the world’s most influential people. Linda was profiled on the front page of the New York Times Metro Section and dubbed “Brooklyn Homegirl in a Hijab” and they introduced Linda to their readership as “ Mixing street smarts, activism and her Muslim identity, Linda Sarsour has become a political force”. She has written for and has been featured in local, national, and international media discussing impact of domestic policies that target Arab and Muslim American communities, criminal justice issues and Middle East affairs. Linda is well respected amongst diverse communities in both in New York City and nationally. She is most known for her intersectional coalition work and building bridges across issues, racial, ethnic and faith communities.