Rising Beyond the Ceiling

RISING STARS _ 100 Inspiring Young Muslim Women from India in the USA

Rising Beyond The Ceiling (RBTC) is a global initiative to shine a spotlight on achievements and contributions of Muslim women of India, both in the country and in countries around the world. The RBTC 100 Global Rising Stars List seeks to recognize Muslim women from India who have migrated to the United States themselves, or are the first generation of parents who immigrated from India and have made a mark in their chosen careers in the USA. The 100 stories will capture the resilience, challenges and their immigrant experience in building a career in a new environment and country. RBTC 100 Global Rising Stars serve as an inspiration and role model for the next generation of women immigrants to the USA.

NOMINATION CRITERIA: - (i) Young women, less than 35 years of age as of 31 December 2024. (ii) Women Professionals who have immigrated to the USA from India; (iii) Women professionals of the first generation whose parents migrated from India.(iii) They are based in the United States (can be citizens of India or USA ) (iv) They can be from any profession or field of work- STEM, Media, Entrepreneurship, Arts, Academics, others (v) They are making their mark in their field such as pursuing work, cutting edge research, are recipients of grants, fellowships, awards or other recognition of their potential (vi) They identify themselves as Muslim .

Nominations Invited: Mail with brief 250 word summary profile, links with photo to risingbeyondtheceiling@gmail.com

COORDINATOR, RBTC Global Rising Stars USA 100 RANA Ali, Pulmonary and Sleep Medicine Consultant Expert New Jersey, USA. Alumna: Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal. Click side arrow for profile details.

Dr. Rana Yusuf Ali is a distinguished medical professional renowned for her academic and professional accomplishments, as well as her deep compassion and altruism. After obtaining her MBBS from Gandhi Medical College in 1995, Rana continued her medical journey in the USA in 1997. During her residency in Internal Medicine, Rana's exceptional academic performance earned her the chairman's award for academia and scholarship. Rana completed her fellowship in Pulmonary Medicine and was offered a faculty position at the Brooklyn Hospital Center and appointed Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College, Cornell University.
Rana has been a partner at Shore Pulmonary, a renowned Pulmonary and Critical Care physician group based in New Jersey, since 2012. She is also on the teaching faculty of the residency training program at Ocean University Medical Center and an Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine in New Jersey. In Fall 2022, Rana launched the sleep medicine fellowship program at The Ocean University Medical Center, which she directs. Rana's exceptional clinical skills have earned her numerous awards throughout her career, and she has been recognized several times as a "Top Doctor" in Pulmonary Medicine by her peers in New Jersey. Rana's contributions to society extend far beyond her academic and professional accomplishments.
As a pulmonary/critical care physician, she courageously treated numerous COVID patients in New Jersey during the pandemic outbreak in early 2020, earning recognition for her strength and selflessness during these challenging times. When the pandemic struck her homeland of India in early 2021, Rana provided medical advice to front-line physicians on how to effectively manage COVID patients, offered pro-bono medical services remotely to patients in India, and partnered with organizations such as the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) to collect and distribute essential medical equipment from the USA to hospitals in need in India. Dr. Rana Yusuf Ali's journey in medicine is characterized by academic excellence and compassion, exemplifying the notion that professional success and a positive impact on the world can go hand in hand.
Links/Referenceshttps://health.usnews.com/doctors/rana-ali-512244

RBTC 100 Global Rising Star USA Nominees ( alphabetical order)

RBTC Global Rising Star USA Nominee. AALIYA JAMAL ZAIDI, Designer, Senior User Experience Researcher, CVS Health. San Francisco. Alumna: Kodiakanal International School, Kodiakanal, India. Click side arrow for profile details.

Aaliya Jamal Zaidi is a designer currently based in San Francisco and works as Senior User Experience Researcher with CVS Health. From 2015 to 2019 Aaaliya worked in marketing with organisations that shared the common goal of working toward a better future. A future with more equitable access to education (Avanti Learning Centres). A future that connects the human body to the earth through sustainable food systems (Conscious Food).
Aaaliya earned her Masters in Industrial Design at the Rhode Island School of Design (2022), She has a BA in International Relations and Modern History from the University of St. Andrews (UK), and an IB from Kodaikanal International School (India).
Links/Referenceshttps://aaliyajzaidi.com/contacthttps://www.linkedin.com/in/aaliyajamalzaidi/

RBTC Global Rising Star USA Nominee. ALIA ALI. Senior Manager, The Bridgespan Group. San Francisco, California. Alumna: University of Delhi, India. Click side arrow for profile details.

Alia Ali is a senior manager in The Bridgespan Group’s San Francisco office since 2022. She has more than a decade of experience working with governments, philanthropies, nonprofits, impact investing funds and impact-driven businesses.
Prior to joining Bridgespan, she was Vice President of Investments at Elevar Equity, an impact focused early stage venture capital fund investing in India and Latin America. Alia’s earlier roles include consulting at the Office of Adviser to the Prime Minister on Skill Development and the Government Advisory team at EY. She also led the content creation and distribution strategy for a novel ed-tech solution in Indian public schools while at EkStep Foundation.
Alia’s work has covered a range of topics including impact investing in the financial services, health and agriculture sectors; workforce and economic opportunity; coordinating operations for large scale philanthropic efforts in education; and policy for Indian state and central governments.
Alia completed her MSc in Economics from University College London and BA (Honors) in Economics from University of Delhi.
References/Sources:

https://www.bridgespan.org/team-members/alia-ali

RBTC Global Rising Star USA Nominee. ALISHA SIDDIQUI. Data Scientist, Deloitte, Seattle, USA. Alumna: Indraprastha University, Delhi, India. Click side arrow for profile details.

Alisha Siddiqui is a Data Scientist at Deloitte in Seattle, USA. She is passionate about impact and is living in the pursuit of understanding the world one dataset at a time. She has 8+ years of technology consulting experience at Deloitte, PwC, Accenture and HCL leading enterprise software/SaaS industry implementations. Alisha completed her MS in Business Analytics from Santa Clara University in California, USA. And was a researcher at Frugal innovation Labs helping develop product strategy for start-ups.
Alisha has served clients from several industries including tech, healthcare, retail, hospitality, and utilities sector. Her work on integrating SAP with Alexa was showcased in SAP Sapphire in Orlando in May 2019. Alisha grew up in the city of Meerut, India and has a bachelor’s degree in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Indraprastha University, Delhi, India.
She is an active volunteer at local food banks and is passionate about girls' education. She was a national level basketball player in India. She was also featured in the book ‘Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Kaam’.
References/Sourcehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/alishasiddiqui/

RBTC Global Rising Star USA Nominee. AMBREEN NISAR. PhD. Postdoctoral Researcher at College of Engineering and Computing at FIU, Florida, USA. Alumna: Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. Click side arrow for profile details.

Dr. Ambreen Nisar is a Postdoctoral Researcher at College of Engineering and Computing , Florida International University. FIU is among the top 50 universities in the nation in the number of engineering bachelor’s degrees awarded to women. She is Internationally renowned for her research in the areas of Ultra High Temperature Ceramics , CNT Reinforced Composites, Functionally Graded Ceramics and Surface Engineering. One of her recently published papers is Role of Interfaces in Damage Initiation and Tolerance of Carbon Nanotube-Reinforced HfB2-ZrB2 Ceramics.
Ambreen joined Okanagan Polymer Engineering Research & Applications (OPERA) Lab in 2018 where be challenged the oil-repellency paradigm one molecule at a time. She was a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of British Columbia . She earned her master's in technology ( nanotechnology) from Aligarh Muslim University . She has been an alumni of Indian Institute of Technology , Kanpur from where she get her Doctor of Philosophy degree in Material Science . She has also been Postdoctoral Research Fellow at IIT, Kanpur.
Links/Referenceshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/ambreen-nisar-phd-2b543173/

RBTC Global Rising Star USA Nominee. BENAZIR KHURSHID. Manager II Advanced Analytics. Walmart. Cary. North Carolina. Alumna; Amity University, Noida, India. Click side arrow for profile details.

Benazir Khurshid works as Manager II, Advanced Analytics Benazir graduated from Duke University - The Fuqua School of Business with a master's degree in Quantitative Management: Business Analytics. I had dreamed of this day since I decided to continue my education. Benazir is the first in her family to move overseas for a master's degree. She completed her Engineering degree in computer science from Amity University in India.
Sources/References

https://www.linkedin.com/in/benazirkhurshid/

RBTC Global Rising Star USA Nominee. FATIMA ALAM. Manager, Ratings Policy and Compliance, Netflix. San Francisco, California, USA. Alumna: St. Stephen's College, Delhi, India. Click side arrow for profile details.

Fatima Alam is a technology and policy professional working as Manager, Ratings Policy and Compliance, Netflix. San Francisco. She worked earlier as Policy Advisor at Google with experience in Product Policy and Research. Fatima is also a Researcher on Trust and Safety at Google. She is skilled in online content moderation, digital advertising policy, strategic partnerships, industry and market research, and project management. She works on content moderation, focusing on policies and enforcement relating to controversial and harmful online content and behaviours.
As a Public Policy Analyst, she has advised on cartography and mapping policies, and also on the economic and social value of Internet technologies in emerging markets. She has also worked in Political Risk Analysis. She was a Carr Center Technology and Human Rights Fellow in 2019. Fatima Alam also specialises in Public Policy, Technology Policy and International Relations.
Fatima has an experience of working with Google for more than 7 years as Policy Advisor, Global Product Policy and Standards where work as Ads and Monetization Policies; Kids and Family Policies; Misinformation and Extremist Content Policies (2018-present), Policy Researcher, Trust and Safety (2015- 2018), Senior Analyst, Public Policy and Government Relations and Analyst (2014-2015), Analyst Public Policy and Government Relations in India (2012- 2014). She has also worked as Fellow: Human Rights and Technology at Harvard Kennedy School (2019-2020), Democracy and Technology Fellow Harvard Kennedy School (2017-2018), Research Intern, Markets and Country Strategy Group at PFC Energy – recently acquired by IHS Dates Employed (2012) in Washington D.C., Teaching Assistant, Econometrics at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (2011–2012) in Washington D.C, Researcher at UNICEF (2011) in India, South Asia Research at McLarty Associates (2011), and Research Associate at The Patna Collective (2008-2010).
Fatima Alam, completed her studies, Master of Arts in International Relations and International Economics from Johns Hopkins SAIS, University of Cambridge, Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Social and Political Sciences in English Literature from St. Stephen's College.Links and References:https://carrcenter.hks.harvard.edu/people/fatima-alamhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/fatimaalam/

RBTC Global Rising Star USA Nominee. FATIMA HUSAIN..Co-founder and General Partner Mastry Ventures. San Francisco, California. Alumna: Delhi Public School, Delhi, India. Click side arrow for profile details.

Profile details to be added / Undergraduate and Masters from Yale University, Schooking from DPS, Delhi, India
Co-founder and General PartnerMastry Ventures · Full-timeMar 2021 - Present · 2 yrs 5 mosSan Francisco Bay Area
https://www.linkedin.com/in/fatima-husain-mankar/

RBTC Global Rising Star USA Nominee. IRMA HUSAIN MD Nephrology Fellow at Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina. Alumna: Era Medical College at Lucknow India . Click side arrow for profile details.

Dr. Irma Husain MD is a Nephrology Fellow at Department of Medicine, Duke University School of Medicine. She completed her residency at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (Bronx) Program.
Dr. Husain has received many Honors, awards and distinctions including a Short-term Studentship Indian Council of Medical Research, 2010; Academic Distinction, M.B.,B.S, Class of 2014 ELMC&H ; Inducted into Lefkowitz Society at Duke, 2020 and the prestigious 2021-2023 ASN Ben J. Lipps Research Fellowship Award
Dr. Husain has a keen interest in Transplant Immunology and her long term goal is to develop into an independent Physician Scientist and Transplant Nephrologist.
Links/Referenceshttps://medicine.duke.edu/personnel/irma-husain-md

RBTC Global Rising Star USA Nominee. NAZIYA HASSAN MD Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellow at John Hopkins Medicine. Baltimore. Maryland. Alumna: Government Medical College Thrissur, Kerala India. Click side arrow for profile details.

Dr. Naziya Hassan MD is currently a Child and Adolescent Psychiatry fellow at John Hopkins Medicine (2023-2025). Dr. Hassan graduated in 2014 from the Government Medical College Thrissur in India and worked as a primary care provided in Bronx Health Care. Throughout her education, she was noted to be a dedicated student and volunteered in various clinics and community education initiatives. Notably, she continues to volunteer in for the Association for Mentally Handicapped Adults, an NGO . She is a member there with various responsibilities including training volunteers to work with this population and developing educational campaigns.
Dr. Hassan is a dedicated and mature physician. She is resilient, determined and refreshingly human. Her natural ability to engage and empathize with even the most challenging patients has been a source of inspiration for me as well as her team members. Every team is better through her presence – and staff from all disciplines comment on this. During weekly Chairman’s rounds and didactics, Dr. Hassan is always prepared, thoughtful and engaged in clinical discussions. She is a pleasure to teach in both clinical and didactic settings. Genuinely empathic in her approach, she is inquisitive and motivated to improve the lives of her patients.
She was and remains an active member of the Child and Adolescent Special Interest Group. She is also an excellent teacher and is open to sharing her knowledge in both the clinical and formal didactic setting with our medical students, observers and NP students.
Links/Referenceshttps://npiprofile.com/npi/1619500337

RBTC Global Rising Star USA Nominee. NIDA SIDDIQUI Global Program Manager- Strategic Operations, Meta, San Francisco Bay Area, California, USA. Alumna: Barkatullah University, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India. Click side arrow for profile details

Nida Siddiqui is Global Program Manager with Meta at San Francisco. Before joining Meta, she worked with Survey Monkey as Solutions Account Executive. Nida is an experienced business professional with 9+ years of experience in the tech industry. She started her tech career as an investment analyst at a Venture Capital firm in Silicon Valley. Over time she worked at various tech organizations and currently she is at Meta as a Global Program Manager.
Born and raised in Bhopal, India, she completed her Masters in Clinical Nutrition and moved to the United States. Nida is passionate about working with fastest growing companies to solve their strategic business challenges. While doing so, she gets inspired by helping Partners, collaborating with cross functional stakeholders, coach/mentor her team and help her peers be successful everyday. With her diverse background in Health & Nutrition, experience of working at Venture Capital firm, Recruiting, Sales & now managing Partnerships & Strategic Operations, she has gotten exposure to leaders in such diverse workspaces. This equipped her to learn, be curious and bring a unique perspective to everything she does.
Outside work, Nida is passionate about women empowerment, leadership and development. In the spirit of constantly growing and to better equip her with the latest knowledge, she pursued short course at Stanford in women leadership & development. She has been part of various women centric organizations and is always looking for opportunities to support girl/women development.
References/Sourceshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/nidasiddiqui1/

RBTC Global Rising Star USA Nominee. NISHAT PARVEEN. Physicist. Pursuing Ph.D. in physics from the University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY). Alumna: Presidency University, Kolkata, India. Click side arrow for profile details.

Nishat Parveen is pursuing Ph.D. in physics from the University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY). She is an active member of the LUX-ZEPLIN (LZ) dark matter experiment, an international group of scientists collaborating to detect elusive dark matter particles.
Nishat completed her undergraduate studies in 2015 at Lady Brabourne College, Kolkata, India. She further did her master's with a specialization in "Astrophysics & Cosmology" from Presidency University, Kolkata, India, in 2017 and then moved to the US for further studies.
Currently, Nishat is working as the wall background group leader in the LUX-ZEPLIN experiment, leading efforts to model the detector backgrounds and study the particle interactions inside the multi-million-dollar particle detector. She assisted in constructing and successfully operating the dark matter detector at Sanford Underground Research Facility, South Dakota. She presented her research work at national and international conferences and has 13 multi-author papers published in reputed journals with over 250 citations. She has won several awards for best talk and poster presentations, including the "Physics Award for Experimental Research for the 2022-2023 academic year", for performing outstanding research for the department. She also participated in several competitions and won awards, such as Silver Honour in the International Astronomy and Astrophysics Competition 2020 and Bronze Honour in the International Youth Math Challenge 2020. As a volunteer, she has collaborated with Professor Sanoar Molla and assisted in publishing two physics textbooks. She recently graduated with a master's in Data Science and aspires to be a data scientist.
Education:1) Ph.D. in Physics: Aug 2018 - Dec 2023University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY)
2) MS in Data Science: Graduated in May 2023University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY)
3) MS in Physics: Graduated in July 2017Presidency University, Kolkata, India
4) BS in Physics: Graduated in June 2015Lady Brabourne College, Calcutta University, Kolkata, India
Sources/References:

RBTC Global Rising Star USA Nominee. MARYAM FATIMA, PhD. Teaching Associate in the Comparative Literature, University of Massachusetts - Amherst. Massachusetts. USA. Alumna: St. Stephen's College Delhi, India. Click side arrow for profile details.

Maryam Fatima joined the doctoral programme in 2012 in Comparative Literature at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Her dissertation has been supported by a Mellon Sawyer fellowship and diversity research grants. Her research explores the entanglements of Urdu and Arabic literatures from the 19th century to the present. She graduated with a BA in English from St. Stephen’s College (Delhi University) and an MA in Media and Cultural Studies from the Tata Institute of Social Sciences. She has also assisted on various research projects such as a government of Maharashtra project for minority upliftment and curating documentary film festivals for universities.
Maryam Fatima was chosen by the Interdisciplinary Studies Institute (ISI) Board as a Fellow for their 2017-2018 seminar on “Dissent.” For more information https://www.umass.edu/isi/news-isi-announces-dissent-fellows
TEACHING EXPERIENCETeaching Associate, University of Massachusetts Amherst: Responsibilities includeconceptualizing the course and drafting the syllabus, lecturing thrice a week, grading student papers,holding office hours, and tracking students’ academic progress through the semester.Junior Year Writing: Topics in Comparative Literature [Fall 2017]: Writing-intensive survey course forComparative Literature majors that culminates in the annual undergraduate conference.International Short Story [Spring 2013, 2015]: An introduction to global short story traditions.Good and Evil: East/West [Spring 2014, 2016, Summer 2016 (online)]: Survey course on Orientalistnarratives from the nineteenth century to the present.
Doctoral Candidate, Comparative Literature, University of Massachusetts Amherst (defense: April 2020)Title: Partitions and Palimpsests: Transgressions of Form and Territory in Postcolonial Urduand Arabic WritingChair: Professor Annette Damayanti Lienau, Harvard UniversityMaster of Arts, Media and Cultural Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai (2011)Bachelor of Arts, English Literature, St. Stephen’s College, Delhi (2009)
FELLOWSHIPS AND GRANTS

2018 PhD Fellow, Graduate Seminar on Dissent, Interdisciplinary Studies Institute, University of Massachusetts Amherst
2018 & 17 University of Massachusetts Summer Dissertation Fellowship
2016-17 Mellon-Sawyer Dissertation Writing Fellowship, World Studies Interdisciplinary Project, University of Massachusetts Amherst
2015-16 PhD Fellow, Mellon-Sawyer Seminar, World Studies Interdisciplinary Project, University of Massachusetts Amherst. “Beyond Medieval and Modern: Rethinking Global Paradigms of Political Economy and Culture.”

Sources/References

RBTC Global Rising Star USA Nominee. SABAH AKHTAR, Senior Business Development Manager, Harvey Nash, New York. Home Town: Jabalpur Madhya Pradesh... Click side arrow for profile details.

Sabah Akhtar is a Senior Business Development Manager at Harvey Nash for New York region, I am responsible to develop new business opportunities with existing and potential customers. Sabah completed her Post degree from the Rani Durgawati University Institute of Management Jabalpur with Majors in Marketing and Supply Chain Management. Participation in Overseas Global Understanding Program conducted by East Carolina University(2012)
Links/Referenceshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-afraz/

RBTC Global Rising Star USA Nominee. SARAH AFRAZ. Engagement Manager, Archetype Solutions. Philadelphia, Pensylvania. Alumna: Ramaiah Institute Of Technology Bangalore, India. Click side arrow for profile details.

Sarah Afraz has 8+ years in strategy and cross-functional leadership at impact-first organizations, with a focus on early-stage ventures. She most enjoys building teams and processes, problem-solving with traditional and non-traditional stakeholders, and partnering with executive leadership on strategic growth challenges. She has a multidisciplinary education in engineering, liberal arts, and business and am persistently curious, creative, and relationship-driven. Recipient of Ashoka University Young India Fellowship, Liberal Arts and Leadership 2013 - 2014Selected as one of India’s 100 future leaders for a multidisciplinary program taught by leading faculty from across the world.
MBA from Yale University. Completed Bachelor of Engineering from Ramaiah Institute Of Technology Bangalore.
Links/Referenceshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-afraz/

RBTC Global Rising Star USA Nominee. SHEEMA USMANI, Vice President, Data Science Lead at JPMorgan Chase & Co. Cambridge, MA. USA. Alumna: Indian Institute of Technology , Varanasi, India. Click side arrow for profile details.

Sheema Usmani is the Vice President and Data Science Lead at JPMorgan Chase & Co. based in New York, New York. Previously, she worked up from a Data Scientist to a Lead Data Scientist at IBM in the span of four years. She is an alum of the Indian Institute of Technology where she studied Integrated Tech, Mathematics and Computing; and was awarded the IIT Color award. The IIT Color Award is a prestigious award given to students who complete exceptional achievements and contributions.
She also graduated from Stanford University with a Master’s in Computational and Mathematical Engineering, and has a patent on system, method, and visualization for data-driven ranking of products by competitiveness. This only showcases a bit of the expertise she has working various aspects of predictive modeling and distributed deep learning.
Source/References:https://www.linkedin.com/in/sheema-usmani-01850971/https://www.youtube.com/c/sheemausmani

RBTC Global Rising Star USA Nominee. UZRA KHAN. Director, Editorial Strategy. Long Dash. Washington DC Alumna: The Cathedral & John Connon High School, Mumbai, India.

Uzra Khan is a Master in Public Policy candidate at the Harvard Kennedy School from Mumbai, concentrating in Democracy, Politics and Institutions (DPI). She is a Shorenstein Center Scholar for Media, Politics and Public Policy, and Editor-in-Chief of the Kennedy School Review.
Sources/referenceshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/uzrakhan/

RBTC Global Rising Star USA Nominee. ZARA BUKHARI. PhD candidate. Pharmaceutical and Chemical Sciences (Biochemistry track)’. University of Pacific, California. Alumna: Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani campus,India. Photo/Profile details to be added.

ZARA BUKHARI Stockton-95211, California, U.S.A. Ph.D.: Purification of 11 proteins created by site-directed mutagenesis to understand the role of amino acid in receptor interaction (lab rotation). Currently working on designing genetically encodable inhibitors for various E2 conjugating enzymes to dissect their role in cellular proteostasis which involves cloning, expression, and purification, designing in vitro assays, cell culture, protein crystallography, andproteomics.
Sources/referenceshttps://www.linkedin.com/in/zara-bukhari-4055437b/

RBTC Global Rising Star USA Nominee. ZEHRA MEHDI. PhD candidate in South Asian Religions, Columbia University, New York. Dissertation The ‘work of Religion’: Trauma, Mourning and Political Resistance in the lives of Muslims in ‘Old Lucknow’. Alumna: Delhi University, Delhi, India. Click side arrow for profile details.

I am a PhD candidate in South Asian Religions, working at the intersections of religion, political violence, and psychoanalysis. My dissertation is a thick psychoanalytic ethnographic account of how Muslims as religious minorities in India facing state oppression, use religion to express themselves both emotionally and politically. Focusing on the lives of Muslims in north India (old Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh), my research studies the ways in which persecuted religious minorities draw upon religion as a psychic reserve to articulate their trauma, mourn their losses and forge political resistance against the state. In the face of exemplary violence-- lynching, pogroms, incarceration, police brutality, hate speech, online auctions—rendered banal, ‘Work of religion,’ I submit, is the process by which Muslims effectively/meaningfully use religion to make sense of their victimization, and transform their personal suffering into collective resistance against their oppression. In attending to the psychological aspects of Muslim subjectivity, their expressions of grieving and practices of resistance, my dissertation offers a new framework for thinking about religion in the lives of persecuted minorities. In studying their lives, documenting their struggles, and acknowledging their resistance, I aspire to narrate a story of the humanity of a minority amidst precarious times.
I am a practicing psychoanalytic therapist and have a special interest in working with religious, caste, sexual minorities. I have given talks on political trauma, ethnocentrism, and prejudice in the clinic, grieving during COVID denial, pathological optimism, possibilities of mourning, limits of trauma theory, and social suffering.
The Psychoanalytic Research Grant (2022-2023) offered by the International Psychoanalytic Association (IPA) supports the completion of my fieldwork in India, and dissertation writing.
EducationM.Phil., Religion, Columbia University, 2019M.A., Religion, Columbia University, 2018M.Phil., Psychoanalysis and Clinical Thinking, Ambedkar University, Delhi, 2014M.A., Clinical Psychology (Specialization: Psychoanalysis), Delhi University, 2008B.A., Psychology (Honrs.), Delhi University, 2006
Sources/referenceshttps://religion.columbia.edu/content/zehra-mehdi
Zehra MehdiPhD Student, Department of Religion80 Claremont AvenueMail Code: 9610New York, NY 10027 zm2261@columbia.edu

Rising Beyond The Ceiling is supported by SAFAR Foundation . SAFAR stands for Supporting Action For Advancement & Rights. 105

The photographs and text on this website has been provided by individual women honorees through interviews, emails, text as well as taken from the references and sources which are provided with the profiles. The excerpts may be freely distributed and shared provided the source #RisingBeyondTheCeiling is referenced and/or hash tagged.

While the team have made every effort to provide accurate information at the time of publication, neither the editors or the RBTC assume any responsibilities for errors or changes that occur after publication or assume any responsibility for third party websites or their content.

For more information contact risingbeyondtheceiling@gmail.com

"While the focus of Rising Beyond The Ceiling is on journeys travelled by Muslim women achievers of India, the stories will inspire all women and girls in India, and around the world, at every stage of their lives, in all areas of endeavor and open a door to new ambitions..........”  - Farah K. Usmani
A passionate champion of woman, DR. FARAH K. USMANI is the Chairperson of Rising Beyond The Ceiling, a global initiative to shine a spotlight on the achievements of Muslim women of India and contribute towards changing their stereotypical narrative. Dr. Usmani is an International Health and Development expert based in New York. She has experience of over twenty-five years working with the United Nations International Civil Service in several countries across all regions of the world and has provided policy, planning, programming, and technical leadership with a focus on women and girls. Farah has also worked with the public sector and non-governmental donor programs in India and is the Global Vice President of SAFAR Foundation, India.
Dr. Usmani has broken several gender stereotypes in her professional and personal life. She is the first woman from her home state of Uttar Pradesh, and the first Muslim woman from India, to work with the United Nations International Civil Service at Director level in New York. She was also the first women to top the All-India Medical Entrance Examination of Aligarh Muslim University (1978), where she completed her medical studies. Dr. Usmani has received several awards and recognitions as well as merit fellowships from the World Bank and British Council. Besides service recognition awards and certificates from the United Nations, UNFPA, she is also the recipient of the 2021 Mahatma Award for Social Impact for contribution to women, girls, and minorities. Farah has an M.D. in Obstetrics and Gynecology from Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, India and a Master’s in Health Policy Planning and Financing given jointly by the London School of Economics and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, U.K. London.

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