Leeway Appoints Sham-e-Ali al-Jamil Program Director
PHILADELPHIA—Denise M. Brown, Executive Director of the Leeway Foundation, announced today the appointment of Sham-e-Ali al-Jamil as Program Director. Sham-e-Ali, who comes to Leeway after working at Asian Arts Initiative and Spiral Q Puppet Theater, begins officially on February 3, 2009.
"We are thrilled to welcome Sham-e-Ali to our staff," says Denise. "She is passionate about and experienced in both social justice and the arts, and we feel confident that she will bring a wide knowledge of what's going on in our region and an incredible sensitivity to our work."
Sham-e-Ali will be responsible for administering the foundation's grant programs in accordance with its mission and grantmaking criteria, and for managing relationships, both internally and externally, which sustain and promote these programs. She will collaborate with staff and board as appropriate, to represent and serve as an advocate for art and change in key philanthropic and other networks to support the strategic goals of the foundation. She reports to the Executive Director.
"Leeway artists have such deep and genuine connections to social change," says Sham-e-Ali. "I look forward to fully realizing those connections, placing the arts side by side with organizing for change, presenting a fuller picture of our communities."
Sham-e-Ali is a poet and public interest lawyer. She is a previous recipient of the Echoing Green Fellowship. Her poetry has appeared in publications such as, SALT Journal, SAMAR, Roots & Culture Magazine, and Mizna, and can also be found in anthologies such as, Shattering the Stereotypes: Muslim Women Speak Out (Olive Branch Press, 2005), Living Islam Out Loud: American Muslim Women Speak (Beacon Press, 2005) and Shout Out: Women of Color Respond to Violence (Seal Press, 2008).
Sham-e-Ali has performed internationally at various events including the Oxford Literary Festival and the "Sister Fire Cultural Arts Tour of Radical Women of Color Artists and Activists". She is a mother to one 7-year-old boy who is her inspiration.
"There aren't many institutions like Leeway that have a commitment to respond to the visions of these artists," says Sham-e-Ali. "The foundation is at the vanguard of recognizing the intrinsic connection between social change work and artistic practice. I am very excited to be a part of this movement.
