Mona Abdala
Mona Abdala lives and works in NJ, with her husband and three children, and has been teaching at NUI Islamic school from 2002 to 2018. She then moved to Public Schools and currently she is teaching at Thomas Edison EnergySmart Charter School. Mona finished her undergraduate degrees in Public Relations and Visual Arts at Rutgers University in 2002. A few years later, due to her love for education, she obtained her k-5 certification, as well as her certification in middle school English. She received her Master’s degree in Educational Technology in the spring of 2019.
Mona co-founded NJ Islamic Networks Group, she is a board member, and a volunteer certified speaker. She deeply believes that opening teachers’ and administrators’ eyes to educational opportunities about Islam will greatly demystify the Islamic faith and create bridges among our students and school communities. She is dedicated to working with teachers in order to help them to feel comfortable enough to teach and discuss Islam and enrich their curriculum, enlightening their students’ minds.
Seham Abdala
Seham Abdala is an American Muslim and an engineer by trade. She is married, and has three children who were all born and raised in the USA.
She worked at Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, a Johnson & Johnson company, for over twenty years. She was one of the leaders who launched the first fully automated blood bank instrument in the world. She received several Johnson & Johnson R & D awards for excellent performance and teamwork. She has visited most European countries and worked with many colleagues from Europe, Asia, and Japan.
Seham taught Arabic and Quran at the Islamic Society of Central Jersey weekend school for over twenty years.
Seham took early retirement from Johnson & Johnson and founded NJ Islamic Networks Group. She is a volunteer acting as the executive director, serving on the board, and a certified speaker. Seham received the Interfaith Diversity Champion Award from American Conference on Diversity in April 2016, and the Tayyiba Taylor Award “in recognition and grateful appreciation of selfless service to our community”, in HijabFest 2017.
Samina Sattar
Samina Sattar is an American Muslim and a researcher in social policy. She graduated from Wellesley College in 2003 with a B.A. in economics and went on to receive a Masters in Public Administration from New York University in 2007. She previously worked at the U.S. Department of Justice on antitrust cases and is currently a researcher at Mathematica Policy Research. She specializes in government policy related to labor and welfare programs.
Samina is on the board of the Muslim Public Service Network, a summer enrichment program in Washington, D.C. that links Muslim students to public service and civic engagement. She is also on the board of the Lighthouse, a new youth- and family-oriented community center in central NJ. She lives with her husband and son in Princeton and is a certified, volunteer speaker for NJ-ING, and serves on its board.
Sami Shaban
Sami is a founding partner of the Law Firm of Sami A. Shaban & Associates. His practice focuses on corporate counsel matters, specifically in the areas of corporate formations, immigration and franchise law. Sami also has over 10 years’ experience as a consultant in various fortune 500 companies. In his most recent experience, he provided direct counsel and management support to the CEO of one of the world’s largest hedge funds.
Sami is a certified volunteer speaker for NJ-ING. He has been elected to serve on the “Franklin Park Board of Ed, and Planning Board”.
Eman El-Badawi
Eman El-Badawi is an active resident of Cranbury NJ. She graduated from Douglass College, Rutgers University with a Biology degree and worked in a Development Biology lab before deciding to stay at home to raise her 6 children. Eman chose to utilize her science background and start a local sheep farm with her husband and children.
A multi-lingual, world traveler, Eman grew up in Malaysia, later moving to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and then the U.S. This has offered her, firsthand knowledge and experience of people, cultures, and languages. While Eman hails from a multi-ethnic, multi-faith background, she is a practicing member of the local Muslim community.
Inter-faith dialog, outreach and service has been Eman’s focus for many years. She started her volunteerism at the Interfaith Hospitality Network in Columbus, Ohio and now works with Interfaith Rise in NJ to provide volunteer services to the growing refugee population. She is a Regional Co-Ordinator for the Jewish/Muslim Inter-faith group, Sisterhood of Salam Shalom and she is a board member and Outreach Director for La Convivencia, an Inter-faith group based out of West Windsor, NJ. Eman is a volunteer acting as NJ-ING interfaith and outreach director, and a certified speaker.
Haania Ahmad
Haania Ahmad is a native of Toronto, Canada. She received her undergraduate degree in Psychology and Physiology from the University of Toronto. She continued on in her study of psychology and has an MS in Clinical Psychology. Haania moved to New Jersey upon getting married and worked in counseling for several years. She chose to stay home after having children, and has four children who keep her very busy and fulfilled. Haania has always had a keen interest in education and has been an active member of her school’s PTO for several years. She is passionate about interfaith work and promoting understanding between cultures. She is a certified speaker and volunteer for NJ ING.
Aqsa Khan
Aqsa Khan is a teacher who has worked with many age groups. She has worked in both public and private schools in New York and New Jersey. Aqsa graduated from New York University in 2007, where she studied education and history. She went on to teach elementary school students at a public school in Manhattan before moving to New Jersey to teach middle school at a private Islamic school. Aqsa enjoys traveling, studying history and current events, and loves to go for hikes with her husband, three boys, and puppy. She is a certified volunteer speaker for NJ-ING.
