005 - Overcoming stereotypes w/Raheef Al Turkmani and Umbareen Jamil

The Visibility Project Podcast

This month, we will be shifting gears and speaking with two very talented and knowledgeable Muslims. We will be discussing common misconceptions people hold about Islam, differences between culture and religion, life during the winter holidays, and their activism in the community and in the work of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Our guests are Raheef Al Turkmani and Umbareen Jamil.BIOSRaheef is a Human Resources professional at Dow with a passion for teaching and inclusion. His current role at Dow is Senior Talent Management and Learning Specialist with regional and global responsibilities, and serves as the North America leader of Dow's Middle East & North Africa ERG. In addition to his work at Dow, Raheef teaches at Northwood University. Prior to joining Dow, Raheef worked as an Adjunct Professor at West Virginia University. Before coming to the US, Raheef worked six years in Marketing & Sales where he worked as a Marketing Manager for Alfanar.Co in Saudi Arabia and as a Sales Supervisor for Katakit in Syria. Raheef is originally from Syria and has been living in Midland since 2015 with his wife Nour, their son Omar, and their daughter Maria. Umbareen has been a resident of Midland since October of 2000. Born and raised in Akron, Ohio, she earned her B.A. from Kent State University double majoring in Economics and International Relations. She and her husband have 4 children. While her primary job is being the ‘Master Caretaker’ of her family, she still finds time to be passionate about service in our community and therefore spends quite a bit of time volunteering with various local organizations. She is an active member of the Islamic Center of Midland, volunteering her time in countless ways from teaching Sunday school to arranging social events and open houses for the Center. She also serves as the advisor for the Muslim Youth of Mid-Michigan, which is a tri-city Muslim youth group that serves our community by volunteering extensively. Through this group, she strives to instill her passion for community service within the Muslim young adults. As the co-director for the Midland Area Interfaith Friends, a group that serves to foster understanding among various faith groups in our area and gives back to our community through various volunteer opportunities, Umbareen believes we need to look for commonalities instead of differences. She is blessed to be one of the founding members of the Midland County Foster Closet and finds great joy in serving the most vulnerable in our community.EPI 005 Resouce Document | http://bit.ly/30bC95UEPI 005 Transcription | https://bit.ly/2OezENATo learn more about The Visibility Project, follow us!Facebook | https://www.facebook.com/thevisibilityprj/Contact us at [e-mail] podcast was produced by Push Productions | https://pushpromi.com/---Spearheaded by members of the Cultural Awareness Coalition the Project is the brainchild of several organizations and individuals with shared values who sit on the Project Steering Team. The current Team includes staff from Northwood University, Midland Kid’s First, the Midland County Inclusion Alliance, The Legacy Center for Community Success, Our Community Listens, the Midland Wellbeing Task Force, and several Employee Resource Group member from Dow; the intention is to expand this Team to include other like-minded groups in the region.The Project’s vision is to create a more connected, empathetic, and inclusive community by listening to and learning from individuals whose stories are too often unheard.