Afeefa Syeed
SENIOR FELLOW | MULTI-FAITH RELATIONS & GLOBAL LEADERSHIP
“Women are natural leaders in so many ways every day; being part of a supportive sisterhood that uplifts our connection to the Divine while grounding our work for humanity is essential to our growth in mind, body, and spirit.”
Afeefa Syeed is a cultural anthropologist who served as Senior Advisor at the US Agency for International Development (USAID) where she worked with Washington-based and field staff to develop policy, define best practices, highlight success stories, and otherwise build internal capacity and tools to frame country strategies that reflect greater expertise in engaging in dynamic cultural contexts.
Afeefa has advised the White House, NSC, Dept. of State, UN Democracy Fund, World Bank and various in-country government and non-governmental institutions on the same issues for communities in Europe, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and Middle East and North Africa.
She has been a Scholar Consultant for the Carter Center and is presently Research Associate with Cambridge University’s Institute on Religion & Global Affairs, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Global Engagement, Advisory Council Member for the Center for Women, Faith and Leadership and serves as a Board member for the UN Association of the National Capital Area where she focuses on bringing the Sustainable Development Goals home to the US.
Her work includes religion and development, gender inclusion, countering extremism and integrating cultural context into development and diplomacy. For the past 25 years, she has designed and implemented initiatives and training to address innovations in education, engaging traditional and religious leaders and institutions, human rights, radicalization, socio-political identity, and social entrepreneurship, among other emerging issues.
Afeefa founded a model independent school whose core curriculum includes peace education, service-in-action, and place-based learning. The school has been an incubator for innovative practices in integrated learning and teaching including creating a curriculum to teach religious studies in a holistic manner.
Afeefa is a member of various interfaith, social service and advocacy organizations in the US and her involvement and community activism led her to run as a candidate for local office in 2003. She is a published writer and regular speaker on a variety of issues.
