THE PERSPECTIVE OF A FIRST GENERATION MUSLIM AMERICAN: CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES

Speaker: Sahar Chaudhry

Policy Analyst – South Asia United States Commission on International Religious Freedom

As a first generation Muslim American, Ms. Sahar Chaudhry has pursued both personally and professionally a greater understanding of Islam, Islamic culture and how Muslim Americans and Muslims living in the United States, particularly women, can maintain their faith while having active and fulfilling professional lives. In that vein, Ms. Chaudhry will speak about her personal family background, education and professional life, as well as more generally, what her experience has been growing-up as a first generation Muslim American. She hopes that speaking about the challenges that she and her family faced being Muslim in the United States, can help other families as they raise their own children in the United States.

Ms. Chaudhry received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Bachelor of Arts degree international politics from Connecticut College; she also received a Master of Arts degree in International Political Economy with a focus on the Middle East and South Asia from Claremont Graduate University. Currently, Ms. Chaudhry is a Policy Analyst with the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom where she covers South Asia, as well as Turkey. Prior to joining the Commission, she was a Research Analyst for Religion & World Affairs at the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life. Her work at Pew focused on Muslim demography, public opinion survey and issues pertaining to religious freedom. She has also worked at Shearman & Sterling, LLP, where along with her regular position as a legal assistant for Corporate Finance, she donated her time to assist on several religious asylum and political asylum cases.