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Laila Alawa

From EverybodyWiki Bios & Wiki

Laila Alawa
Laila Alawa sits with microphoneLaila Alawa.jpg Laila Alawa.jpg
BornLaila Alawa
(1991-08-17) 17 August 1991 (age 33)
Copenhagen, Denmark
🏳️ NationalityAmerican
🎓 Alma materWellesley College
University of Cambridge
💼 Occupation
Entrepreneur, Journalist, Activist
🏢 OrganizationThe Tempest
👩 Spouse(s)
Afif Rahman (m. 2018)
🌐 Websitelailaalawa.com

Laila Alawa (born August 17, 1991) is an American businesswoman and thought leader. Alawa founded The Tempest, a global digital media and entertainment company focused on young women, in 2016. Aside from serving as the CEO of The Tempest, Alawa is a media & technology entrepreneur, motivational speaker and academic researcher. Alawa is a Forbes 30 under 30 media honoree.[1] Growing up, Alawa founded the internationally-known jewelry brand, Lilla Stjarna.[2]

Education and early career[edit]

Alawa attended Wellesley College in Wellesley, Massachusetts, graduating with B.A. in psychology and education studies. She performed in the school's martial arts and archery teams, increased the campus impact of Al-Muslimat (Wellesley's Muslim Students Association), and researched female leadership, minority stereotyping, and consumer behaviorism[3].[4][5]

Alawa also worked on research initiatives at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Tufts University, and the Wellesley Centers for Women.[6]

In 2017, she spoke about her experience at Wellesley College with Daily Shot writers, "As a proud Wellesley graduate, I'm reminded on a daily basis just how powerful storytelling can be, in every sense of the word," Alawa said. "I graduated knowing that I could make an impact that wasn't limited to a few people, and it's been a principle I've incorporated into making The Tempest a global media force to be reckoned with, highlighting the perspectives and experiences of women and non-binary people."[6]

She completed a Certificate of Social Entrepreneurship & Leadership at the University of Cambridge in 2015.

Career[edit]

Alawa worked as a research specialist at Princeton University, studying socio-cognitive processing under the framework of community, identity and belonging.[7][8] Alawa made significant contributions to the research study, Social Identity and Socially Shared Retrieval-Induced Forgetting: The Effects of Group Membership, which examined the formation of a shared, or collective, memory through socio-cognitive processing was later published in the American Psychological Association's Journal of Experimental Psychology.[9]

Her research papers are used as a source of reference for studies in psychology and other academic fields.[10][11]

Laila Alawa, 2017.

In 2015, Alawa was a member of Secretary Jeh Johnson’s Homeland Security Advisory Council, serving as a volunteer on task force on countering violent extremism. Due to disagreements with the focus on police involvement and continued "othering" within the report's solutions, Alawa left the task force prior to the release of the report.[12]

However, the report failed to remove her involvement, and as a result, when the report was released, a blog published an article titled Syrian immigrant who said 9/11 'changed the world for good' is a homeland security advisor, misrepresenting Alawa and her work. [13] She was a target of public backlash with messages threatening her life and mocking her looks and religion. [14][15] [13]

Alawa is also a scholar at the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding in Washington, DC.[16] In 2016, she was the secondary investigator on a report exploring the politics and civic engagement within American Muslim communities[17], American Muslims in the 2016 Election and Beyond: Principles and Strategies for Greater Political Engagement. [18] She serves on the advisory board of Poligon Education Fund[19], a national, non-partisan organization dedicated to making progress on matters such as civil rights and economic justice on Capitol Hill.

The Tempest[edit]

Alawa speaks on an entrepreneurship panel in Dubai, October 2017.
Alawa speaks on an entrepreneurship panel in Dubai, October 2017.

After working in media spaces, she founded the company, The Tempest, in 2016, which is headquartered in the United States and the United Arab Emirates. Offices are also located in the United Kingdom, Canada, and Pakistan.[20][1]

In speaking about why she founded the company, Alawa stated in an interview with a Boston media outlet: "My decision to start The Tempest came from one key question: why were we only hearing about the world from predominantly men? Why is it so hard to set the agenda, apart from prevalent expectations, to what we truly want to discuss?"[21]

The Tempest (thetempest.co) creates and shares user-generated content editorial content, videos, and podcasts aimed at a female audience.[22]

2,000 contributors identifying as women from more than twenty countries regularly contribute original content.[23] [24] A study on ethnic media consumption and production by Professors Matthew D. Matsaganis of Rutgers University and Shirley Yu of The University of Toronto, Canada, found that The Tempest actively creates conversations around the socioeconomics of the digital space, journalistic norms, and personal concepts of identity[25].

Honors and awards[edit]

2015 – Ariane de Rothschild Fellow[7]

2017 – 40 Women to Watch 2017 Edition[26]

2017 – Startup Grind's 50 Millennial Founders to Watch in 2018[27]

2018 – Forbes 30 Under 30 list of "young people transforming the future of media" [28]

2018 – CAFE's The CAFE 100.[29]

Personal life[edit]

Alawa was born in Ishoj, Denmark, in 1991 and immigrated to the United States at the age of six.[14][4] She is of Syrian and Danish descent.[24] Her family eventually settled in New Hampshire, where Alawa was homeschooled until college.[24][30]

Alawa is the eldest of eight children.[3] She is the sister of non-profit development director Huda Alawa. Of the six adult siblings, one brother is a solar energy representative residing in Massachusetts, one brother is an app developer residing in Connecticut, one sister is attending Mount Holyoke College, and the other sister is attending Bryn Mawr College. The youngest two siblings continue to be homeschooled by her parents, solar energy executive Aiman Alawa of NuWatt Energy and non-profit CEO Nadia Alawa of NuDay. Alawa is married to social impact analyst Afif Rahman.[31][30][32]

Publications[edit]

Alawa has written articles for The Guardian[33], The New York Times' Women in the World[34], The Atlantic[35], Vox[36], and Forbes[37], among others.

She is a contributor for the bestselling feminist anthology, Faithfully Feminist: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Feminists On Why We Stay.[38] Alawa contributed the foreword for the indie comic book, Kismet, Man of Fate.[39]

References[edit]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 These Are The Washington Innovators Who Made The 2018 Forbes ’30 Under 30′ List Dc Inno Retrieved 14 November 2017
  2. ↑ Bonney, Grace (2019-05-14). Good Company (Issue 3): The Money Issue. Artisan Books. ISBN 9781579658625. Search this book on
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wangsness, Lisa (2010-09-06). "Reignited ire buffets Muslim students". Boston.com. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Wangsness, Lisa (8 September 2011). "Strangers in their own land, as they came of age". Boston.com. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  5. ↑ Carli, Linda L.; Alawa, Laila; Lee, YonAh (6 January 2016). "Stereotypes About Gender and Science". Psychology of Women Quarterly. 40 (2): 244–260. doi:10.1177/0361684315622645.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Staff, Daily Shot (6 November 2016). "Wellesley Alumna Included in Forbes "30 Under 30: Media" List". Wellesley College Daily Shot News.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Fellows: Laila Alawa". The Ariane de Rothschild Fellowship. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  8. ↑ "JHU Forums on Race in America panel to focus on intersectionality, identity". Johns Hopkins University. 15 February 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  9. ↑ Coman, Alin (2016). "Social Identity and Socially Shared Retrieval-Induced Forgetting: The Effects of Group Membership" (PDF). Journal of Experimental Psychology: General – via DOI.
  10. ↑ Factors in life science textbooks that may deter girls' interest in science Journal of Research in Science Teaching Retrieved September 1992
  11. ↑ The Matilda Effect She Thought It
  12. ↑ "Homeland Security Advisory Council: Countering Violent Extremism Subcommittee" (PDF). Department of Homeland Security.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 LaCapria, Kim (16 June 2016). "Laila Alawa". Snopes.com. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 O'Brian, Sara Ashley (19 June 2016). "Muslim woman deluged by 'hate tweets' after helping Homeland Security panel". CNN. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  15. ↑ Minutes The New Republic
  16. ↑ "Our Scholars | ISPU". Institute for Social Policy and Understanding. 2016-02-17. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
  17. ↑ Cury, Emily (Fall 2018). "Contesting Islamophobia and Securing Collective Rights: Muslim American Advocacy in the 2016 Elections". Politics and Religion: 1–26. doi:10.1017/S1755048318000469. ISSN 1755-0483.
  18. ↑ "American Muslims in the 2016 Election and Beyond: Principles and Strategies for Greater Political Engagement" (PDF). Institute for Social Policy and Understanding.
  19. ↑ "About". Amplifying Muslim American voices in Congress. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
  20. ↑ "About". The Tempest.
  21. ↑ Stories, Local. "Meet Laila Alawa of The Tempest - Boston Voyager Magazine | Boston City Guide". Retrieved 2019-05-13.
  22. ↑ Laila Alawa Forbes
  23. ↑ "Laila Alawa (26)". Next Gen Summit. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 Bae, Hannah (30 March 2016). "15 Questions with Laila Alawa". Money.cnn.com. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  25. ↑ Ethnic Media in the Digital Age. Search this book on
  26. ↑ Jalena Keane-Lee. "40 Women to Watch: The 2017 Edition". The Tempest.
  27. ↑ Mashaun D. Simon. "50 Millennial Founders (+ their startups) to watch in 2018". Medium.
  28. ↑ Berg, Madeline (14 November 2017). "30 Under 30 Media 2018: Meet The Young People Driving And Defining Content". Forbes. Retrieved 1 December 2017.
  29. ↑ "Laila Alawa". CAFE.
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 Abramson, Alana (18 November 2015). "Immigrants Share Their Experiences About What It's Like to Move to America". ABC News. Retrieved 2 December 2017.
  31. ↑ "Laila Alawa and Afif Rahman Wedding Registry". TheKnot. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
  32. ↑ Alawa, Laila (2017-11-20). "We asked each other. We said yes. We're getting married. pic.twitter.com/IEYaQxEvS4". @lulainlife. Retrieved 2019-05-20.
  33. ↑ Alawa, Laila (2014-07-22). "Muslims aren't shocked to discover we are watched. But we won't be scared | Laila Alawa". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
  34. ↑ ""I love riding airplanes but it's not an enjoyable experience for me"". Women in the World. 2015-11-30. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
  35. ↑ Alawa, Laila (2016-01-07). "A Holly Jolly Eid: Should American Muslims Embrace Holiday Commercialism?". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
  36. ↑ Alawa, Laila (2016-08-17). "Think America is getting more tolerant? Read the tweets I've gotten from anti-Muslim trolls". Vox. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
  37. ↑ Bankable. "Sexual Harassment In The Startup Industry Really Isn't Going Away Anytime Soon". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-04-27.
  38. ↑ Faithfully Feminist: Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Feminists on Why We Stay (I SPEAK FOR MYSELF). White Cloud Press. 2015. ISBN 193595248X. Search this book on
  39. ↑ Lewis, A. David (2018). Kismet, Man of Fate. A Wave Blue World. ISBN 1949518000. Search this book on

External links[edit]


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