Arts & Culture Intern: Aliya Bagewadi

 Aliya Bagewadi is a sophomore at the University of Chicago studying Public Policy and Environmental Studies. Having played the cello for over 10 years and performed in various a capella ensembles and honor choirs, Aliya sees the arts as a powerful, yet deeply personal means of unifying a community.  In 2004, upon traveling to perform a choral opera entitled "The Nightingale" at an International Choral Festival in Hong Kong, she witnessed people of all ages, nationalities and creed coming together to share their diverse experiences through the single, simple medium of music. On campus, Aliya is an Interfaith Youth Core fellow, serves as community service chair of the MSA and is a member of Model United Nations.  She also is heavily involved with two student activist groups, the Southside Solidarity Network and Art in Action. This summer, having recently returned from teaching children English in Peru in one piece, a feat of which she had doubt, Aliya is grateful to be back in the Windy City.

Communications & Organizing Intern: Sara Nasser

As a native Chicagoan raised on the Northside, Sara Nasser thought it would be best to attend school on the Southside at the University of Chicago, where she is actively involved in Model United Nations and community politics at the 4th ward and the 25th state representative district office. Through her experiences in working for Alderwoman Preckwinkle and State Representative Currie, Sara has been confronted with the challenges facing Southside constituents and hopes to one day hone her political skills to serve these communities herself.  Sara is a political science and public policy major, and as a result has developed a key interest in national security and seeks to get involved in foreign policy affairs. As a lifelong Northsider, she often feels at odds with the Southside community over her Cubs pride.
 

Communications Intern: Asraa Mustafa

Asraa Mustufa is studying Journalism and Political Science at Rutgers University, with a minor in South Asian Studies.  Before coming to IMAN, she focused mostly on international issues by interning at a Washington DC-based nonprofit called Genocide Intervention Network, and by travelling and volunteering in Cambodia.  She is now eager to learn more about the plight of urban communities, and hopes to become more involved in community-based activism.  In her spare time, Asraa enjoys reading, cooking, drawing, and photography. 

Communications Intern: Ibrahim Elshamy

Born and raised in Manchester, New Hampshire, Ibrahim Elshamy studies Middle Eastern Studies and Native American Studies at Dartmouth College, where he is a Mellon Mays Fellow and Harry S. Truman Scholar. In the NH/VT Upper Valley, he directs community service programs with rural, underprivileged students for the Tucker Foundation, and a wide range of other service projects locally, nationally, and internationally. Ibrahim hopes to spend the upcoming year working for an NGO in Egypt, and plans to attend school in International Law to work with issues of foreign aid and poverty in the Middle East. True to his New Hampshire roots, Ibrahim only douses his pancakes with REAL New England maple syrup, and is a member of the celebrated Dartmouth forestry team--though he does root for the White Sox.

Finance Intern: Inas Raouf

Inas Raouf graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign last year with a B.S. in Accountancy.  She just passed her Certified Public Accountant Examination and will be working full-time for Ernst & Young in the Fall.  Inas was actively involved with several several campus organizations in many capacities, including the Muslim Students Association and Students for Justice in Palestine.  She has studied abroad in Istanbul, Turkey and did volunteer work in Cusco, Peru.  Inas is an avid traveler and reader, and looks forward to contributing to IMAN's Finance department.