About Sister Laila
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Sister Laila is a fifth generation African American Muslim. She is an educator and community advocate born in Philadelphia, PA, raised in Chicago, IL and now living in Roselle, NJ. She graduated from the University of Islam School, now known as the Sister Clara Muhammad School System. Currently, Sister Laila works with a team of educators on curriculum and policy for that eighty-plus year old private education system. Sister Laila holds a degree in Child Development, has extensive studies in Behavior Science, is a certified Domestic Violence Advocate, certified private Mediator and certified Reiki practitioner.
Her parents, Imam Warith-U-Deen Mohammed (RA) and Sister Shirley Allen Muhammad, and grandparents, Honorable Elijah Muhammad (RA) and Sister Clara Muhammad (RA), modeled extensively the importance of giving service through charitable acts throughout their life. One of the monumental opportunities she was blessed to have experienced is the development of the Sister Clara Muhammad Memorial Educational Foundation, a 501c 3, established by Sister Laila’s mother in honor of grandmother. Being the witness of such volunteerism from a young age, service is Sister Laila’s passion and has become second nature. For example, she shares modest acts of kindness, like providing cash to strangers in a public setting to taking hygiene packages and crocheted slippers to orphanages in Haiti. From the age of fifteen, she has traveled the world, falling in love with the diversity of the human family. Her international and national travels are a major part of her interfaith efforts, the core of all her work. Sister Laila's most memorable times are her visits to the countless education institutions – from preschools to universities – sharing her story, the story of her family and culture. She gives testimony to the difficulties and ease of life, through her original poetry and engaging dialogue. Her international travels include the blessings of making pilgrimage to Mecca, experiencing the life changing moment, walking through the Door of No Return in Ghana, experiencing the walk through the concentration camps in Europe, meeting Pope Francis at the Vatican and and being among the interfaith leaders who attended The Art of Living World Cultural Festival India. Based on her work with Ash-Shamsiyyah–The Umbrella, during President Barak Obama’s tenure, she was invited to be the first African American Muslim Woman to present a prayer at the Interfaith Presidential Inauguration Service and was part of a delegation of religious leaders representing The President in Indonesia. As the result of seeing the world through the lens of a world citizen, she is further driven to building healthy community life for the betterment of humanity through service. Bringing encouragement, love and much needed services to her fellow human family to support health and wellness through programs around food insecurity, homelessness, women’s leadership and empowerment, diversity and mental health. Sister Laila believes, all people are striving to reach their human excellence and with a “shared freedom space” will succeed. |