Aneelah Afzali is the Executive Director of the American Muslim Empowerment Network at the Muslim Association of Puget Sound (MAPS-AMEN). She also serves as a Governing Board Member of the Faith Action Network; Advisory Board Member of Washington For Black Lives; Steering Committee Member of the Washington Immigrant Solidarity Network; and part of the National Roundtable on Combating Islamophobia, Shoulder to Shoulder’s Consultative Circle, Everytown for Gun Safety’s Interfaith Advisory Council, and the WA Tech Equity Coalition.
As an Afghan-American, Aneelah is currently partnering with the Statewide Refugee Coordinator at the Office of Refugee and Immigrant Assistance of DSHS to co-lead the efforts to coordinate the welcome and resettlement of Afghan refugees in Washington State.
Aneelah is an attorney and graduate of Harvard Law School who worked at two law firms in Seattle (making partner at one), before building and leading the Legal Department as General Counsel of a local healthcare IT company. In addition to her legal practice, Aneelah co-founded MELAW – the Middle Eastern Legal Association of Washington – and served as inaugural president for two years. The Washington State Bar Association honored Aneelah with its Excellence in Diversity award, and Washington Law and Politics recognized her as a Rising Star multiple years.
In 2013, after a spiritual awakening and witnessing the growing divisiveness and misinformation in our country, Aneelah left her legal career to pursue service and knowledge, two things her faith emphasizes. Since then, Aneelah has served as a community activist, interfaith leader, educator and presenter, events coordinator, strategic adviser, civil rights advocate, and seeker of knowledge. She founded MAPS-AMEN in December 2016 to (i) educate our fellow Americans about Islam and Muslims; (ii) build coalitions and mobilize allies to take effective action toward achieving peace and justice for all; (iii) challenge negative stereotypes and misinformation in media; and (iv) empower and engage the American Muslim community. Aneelah’s work with faith and non-faith communities has helped to increase understanding of Islam and Muslims; build relationships across religious, racial, cultural and political differences; create alliances to advocate for justice together, including in combating Islamophobia, xenophobia, racism, antisemitism, and other forms of hate and bigotry; and promote dignity, fairness and respect for all.
Honors and Awards: Seattle Magazine recognized Aneelah for her influential bridge-building work by selecting her as one of the 2017 Most Influential People in Seattle. The Faith Action Network awarded MAPS the Interfaith Leadership Award for 2017 because of the coalition-building work by Aneelah. The International Rescue Committee honored Aneelah with the 2018 Humanitarian Leadership Award. After a national vote, she was also selected as the 2018 “American Muslim of the Year” by the largest Muslim civil rights organization in our country (Council on American-Islamic Relations National). Adweek further recognized Aneelah as a Seattle Rising Brand Star in 2018. In 2019, she received the Aki Kurose Award for education from the Seattle Japanese American Citizens League (JACL), and the Achievement Award for Community Service from WomenIkon. In 2020, she was a finalist for the national Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser by the American Muslim Community Foundation, and in 2021, the Seattle Human Rights Commission awarded her the Human Rights Leader award.
Aneelah graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in Psychology (and minors in Business and Spanish) from the University of Oregon Robert D. Clark Honors College, and was named a Chayes International Service Fellow at Harvard Law School.
Speaking and Media Engagements: Aneelah has been a featured or keynote speaker at several high profile and well-attended events including the 2017 and 2018 Womxn’s Marches in Seattle. A dynamic and passionate advocate for justice, Aneelah has spoken on stages with federal and state elected officials as well as civic, community, and faith leaders.
Aneelah has also appeared on multiple media outlets including KOMO 4, KING 5, KIRO 7, Q13, NPR/KUOW, KCTS, KTTH, Seattle Times, The Stranger, Crosscut, Redmond Reporter, The Daily News, Reuters, Associated Press, Everett Herald, Yakima Herald, and more. Aneelah has helped organize, emcee and/or participate in several press conferences and candidate forums, and her work has been recognized locally, regionally and even nationally.
Whether speaking before dozens or thousands of people, Aneelah has engaged and inspired people through her talks on a range of topics including Islamophobia, Islam, commonalities/differences with other faith traditions, women’s issues (including women’s rights in Islam), racial justice and racial inequities, diversity, equity & inclusion, intersectionality, addressing tokenism, building coalitions, authentic allyship, immigrant and refugee issues, politics, activism, youth empowerment, careers in law, career transformations, Afghanistan and helping Afghan refugees; and much more.
When speaking, Aneelah emphasizes the interconnectedness of various struggles and the need to build and develop multi-racial, multi-ethnic, multi-faith, multi-lingual, and multi-generational movements for collective liberation. As she often says: “Islamophobia does not just hurt me as a Muslim; it hurts all of us as Americans. The same way that all lives cannot matter until Black Lives Matter!” Or in the famous words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”