Southern Education Foundation
Atlanta, Georgia
As the daughter of East African immigrants, Fatema grew up learning education to be the foundation of progress. Her interest in this area developed after traveling to her parents’ home region to pursue athletics. There, Fatema experienced how similar the education system in East Africa was to the United States. In both areas, the quality of education was primarily determined by a child’s race and economic status.
Shifting her focus from distance running to education, Fatema began combating these educational barriers by teaching mathematics and becoming a community organizer in Iten, Kenya, and her hometown, Orlando, Florida. In 2021, she enrolled at Harvard Law School to focus on how laws and policies influence access to equitable education.
During law school, Fatema served as Co-President of the African Law Association, Diversity and Equity Managing Editor of the CR-CL Law Review, Team Lead for Defenders, and Student Affairs Co-Chair for Student Government. She pursued clinics and internships in South Africa, Kenya, Ghana, and Washington, DC, to better understand how movement lawyering and coalition building can be used for education justice.
Upon graduation, Fatema plans to work under the Southern Education Foundation to help eliminate barriers preventing underrepresented children from accessing quality education.