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Bio of Samina Faheem Sundas
AMV Founding Executive Director
Samina F. Sundas is the founder and Executive Director of the American Muslim Voice Foundation.
Her focus is in fostering friendships among all Americans and to walk on the path Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s paved for all of us. She is committed to work towards building an inclusive and beloved community. She enjoys working with and learning from youth. She specially is interested in empowering young women to become leaders of tomorrow. She is an advocate of civic engagement through volunteerism. She believes through education and social interaction we can build an inclusive and beloved nation where all of us feel safe and at home.
Affiliations:
Commissioner of the Human Relations Commission of the Santa Clara County , Ca.
Chair of the peace building committee of the HRC, Santa Clara , CA ,
Steering committee for Multifaith Voices For Peace & Justice, Bay Area, Ca,
Board Member Friends of Human Relations, Santa Clara , CA ,
Steering Committee for Olive Branch Interfaith Peace Partnership.
Advisory Board member of SEMAH. (Safety, Education, Mutual Respect, Awareness and Hope)
She was also the coordinator of the only 24/7 Muslim Nationwide Hot line, to help people regarding INS Special Registration and to protect civil liberties for all.
For the past eight years she has been speaking extensively on immigrant and civil liberties, issues, particularly the USA Patriot Act. She was on the panel of Amnesty International USA National Hearings on Racial Profiling, held in Oakland on September 9, 2003.
Ms. Sundas has personally assisted the state of California , Santa Clara County , Alameda County and 11 cities in passing resolutions against the USA Patriot Act. She was part of the historical movement working with faith/immigrants right groups to defeat HR 4437 and towards a more humane immigration reform.
She is part of an audiovisual documentary “Tracked in America” produced by the ALCU of Northern California in partnership with the national ACLU that explores more than two centuries of surveillance in America. Included are two hours of audio interviews, 300 photographs and 25 personal stories beginning in 1917. www.trackedinamerica.org.
In June 2007 Samina was selected as one of the hundred diverse individuals from throughout the country referred to as dreamers. Dreamers took their stories to the Nation’s Capital. Dreamers also had the opportunity to share their stories with Members of Congress. Congress heard first-hand from their constituents about the human impact of our broken immigration system and the need for just immigration reform legislation that addresses the realities of our country, economy and immigrant families.
In May 2009 Samina was selected as one of the thirty women from across America for a very special leadership retreat at Omega Institute in New York . The group was called Sophia Alliance
“Women uniting for humanity”
In 1880, British poet and philosopher Matthew Arnold articulated a vision of the untapped potential and healing power of women. He said:
If ever the world sees a time where women shall come together purely and simply for the benefit of humankind, it will be a power such as the world has never known."
Samina is a resident of Palo Alto, CA . She is a proud mother of two young adults, Misbah and Saqib.
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