In this episode, we pass the mic to board member Sumayya Saleh, Esq. She discusses why she joined the Journey to Esquire team and religious diversity.
Ms. Saleh is the product of circumstances similar to those endured by JTE’s target population. Ms. Saleh’s formative years were shaped largely by the realities of being the daughter of Syrian immigrants and being a Muslim in post-9/11 America. People who looked like her--Muslim women in hijab--were vilified, not uplifted. er innate desire to advocate on behalf of victims of injustice led her to pursue a career in the law, despite the hurdles she knew she would encounter. Ms. Saleh brings her own set of invaluable experiences to the table, as she experienced the precise barriers to entry that JTE aims to help its scholars overcome. She graduated from Western Michigan University Cooley Law School (“Cooley Law”)—an unranked law school, and one of the schools with which JTE works.
As a Cooley Law graduate, Ms. Saleh experienced implicit (and sometimes explicit) biases from prospective employers and others in the profession. Ms. Saleh also had to contend with the reality that, as a hijab-clad Muslim woman, she was a very visible minority in the legal community. Rather than minimize this part of her identity, she embraced it. She quickly got involved in local bar associations and made room for herself at the table. She saw firsthand how adding a diverse voice to the mix goes a long way in terms of diversity efforts, but is only the first step toward equity and inclusivity. Ms. Saleh successfully maneuvered around the obstacles she faced: During her third year of practice, Ms. Saleh was offered a federal clerkship, which she ultimately turned down so she could accept her current position as a staff attorney with the reputable Southern Poverty Law Center. At this stage in her career, she is exactly where JTE is hoping its scholars land within their first five years of practice, and did so while staying true to the parts of her that make her “different.”
Twitter: @SumayyaSaleh
Fun fact: She helped organize a union at my workplace.
