Promoting civic engagement is the passion of new WMCA executive director Fauzia Qureshi

New executive director of WMCA, Fauzia Qureshi will focus on the urgency for civic engagement in the Muslim community.

The Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance (WMCA) welcomed Fauzia Qureshi as their new executive director on April 1, replacing the interim executive director Gabriella Suliga. Qureshi looks forward to promoting civic participation in the Muslim community by strengthening democratic principles and advocating for inclusive social change. She has over 15 years of leadership experience and has spearheaded initiatives such as community-wide events and grant programs for marginalized populations.

The WMCA website states their mission is to “organize voters and engage with elected officials to advance Muslim rights at the local, state, and federal levels.”

“We are thrilled to welcome Fauzia Qureshi to the Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance family,” WMCA Board of Directors President Maqsood Khan said. “With her impressive background and passion for civic engagement, she is the ideal leader to guide our organization forward. We are confident that she will inspire positive change and empower Muslim communities across Wisconsin.”

Born and raised in Milwaukee, Qureshi’s track record reflects her unrelenting passion for supporting underserved communities in any capacity. She lived in the UK for ten years before returning to the US. Qureshi’s previous roles include website manager at Islam Channel in London, administrator for an Al-Huda evening school, director of community-clinical linkages at UniteWI and manager at Muslim Community Health Center (MCHC).

Qureshi enthusiastically accepted the executive director position at WMCA, as her passions and values closely match those of the organization. “There’s an urgency for civic engagement in our community,” she affirms. “Our voices need to be heard. What is happening with current events proves that there is a need for Muslim voices and engagement by Muslim voters.”

Also a board member of the Wisconsin Public Health Association, Qureshi notes that her public health background directly intersects her civic engagement work. “We show folks how to get in touch with their legislators, making sure that they can make policy changes in their own capacity,” she contends. “It’s not a one-size-fits-all situation, but it can be done.”

Highlighting accomplishments from her tenure at MCHC, Qureshi center, facilitate medical and health screening appointments for incoming refugees, provided preventative health workshops to community members, offered wellness checks for homeless folks living at Tent City, plus she ran a tobacco and vaping prevention program for students at Salam School. She cites a meaningful moment from that time, “I got to take refugees in Milwaukee to their first Brewers baseball game.”

WMCA has endorsed over 90 candidates across Wisconsin over the last five years and conducted a survey from 416 Muslim adults across 12 counties in Wisconsin. “We want to hear from Muslim voters and what the top issues are that affect them,” Qureshi explains. “We plan to conduct another survey within a year with even more participants.”

Qureshi considers obstacles that underrepresented folks face in terms of civic engagement. Part of her plan for Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance is to implement educational resources that pertain to the electoral process. “It’s important to look at the access barriers,” Qureshi elaborates. “There could be transportation barriers, or language, or not knowing how the registration process works. We want to help folks from that perspective as much as we can.”

She emphasizes goals for the organization to recruit and endorse candidates who bring the Muslim community seats at the table as well, adding, “We have amazing leaders already, but we need them in places of power.”

Visit the Wisconsin Muslim Civic Alliance website at https://www.wmcalliance.org/.

Fauzia Qureshi concludes, “It’s a huge undertaking and I feel grateful to be a part of this team.”

On April 20, Gov. Tony Evers and First Lady Kathy Evers welcomed Muslim leaders from across Wisconsin to the Executive Residence to celebrate Eid-al-Fitr. In attendance was (left-right) Reem Alaeddin, Fauzia Qureshi, WMCA executive director, Dr. Hanadi BuAli, Orusa Mozaffar and Janan Najeeb, MMWC executive director.