Title: From Idea to Fruition: Building an Organization from the Ground-up and the Learning Journey
Date: Mon, Nov 13th, 2023
Time: 2:30-4 pm ET / 11:30-1 pm PT

Mariya Taher is one of the five co-founders of Sahiyo. Sometimes she feels as if she accidentally started an organization, though starting an organization is by no means an easy feat (even when someone is passionate about a topic). For the past nine months, Mariya has been taking part in the VALOR LEAP program, a mentorship program for women of color leaders working in gender-based violence. In connection with her fellowship, she will be hosting a webinar she hopes will support other future nonprofit founders. Founders from across the VALOR LEAP Cohorts will come together for a discussion on what led them to found their organizations and the lessons (both challenges and successes) that they have encountered along the way. Mariya Taher will moderate, with Strong Oak Lefebvre, April Barbosa, Tonije Reese, and Sanjana Khan as speakers. Learn more about speakers here.

Objectives of Webinar:

• To hear the stories of founders of various organizations and what motivated them
• To connect founders in the gender-based violence space with one another
• To develop lessons learned and key takeaways in terms of what to know and or be aware of when considering founding an organization

Register for the webinar here.

On September 5th, Gulabi Stories hosted a discussion-based event with support from Sahiyo called Holding Conversation on Survivorship & Healing. This virtual gathering brought together individuals from diverse backgrounds to screen and hold space to discuss a few of the digital stories from Sahiyo, StoryCenter, and Asian Women’s Shelter’s Voices to End FGM/C project. 

In this intimate setting, the Voices stories sparked reflection and dialogue around deep-seated issues related to female genital cutting (FGC). Throughout the screening, we explored themes of reconciliation, acceptance, the quest for closure and understanding, the profound impact of FGC on personal relationships, and the transformative journey of self-definition while challenging societal norms.

If you are interested in hosting your own Voices screening session, please reach out to Aries Nuño, Sahiyo’s Training and Technical Assistance Coordinator, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Meet L'Oréal Paris Women of Worth Honoree Mariya Taher, Sahiyo U.S. Each year, L'Oréal Paris launches a nationwide search for ten extraordinary non-profit leaders to be named Women of Worth honorees. Each honoree receives $25,000 to support their charitable work, mentorship from the L'Oréal Paris network and a national platform to tell their stories.

Read more about Mariya here.

Learn more about the 2023 Women of Worth by visiting womenofworth.com.

Delia Donovan is an undergraduate student at Emmanuel College in Boston who is pursuing a bachelor's degree in political science with a minor in theater arts. She is involved with multiple groups and organizations on campus, including Law and Legal Studies Club, Emmanuel Theater, and Radical Hope. As someone with a passion for social justice and human rights law, she is dedicated to uplifting the voices and validating the experiences of women through policy change.

What was your experience of learning about female genital cutting (FGC) for the first time like?

I’m pretty sure I learned about it while I was watching a horror movie. It was depicted as a practice that was a barbaric form of torture. Of course, I was frightened and confused by it, but I had no idea that this was an inaccurate depiction of what FGC truly is, nor did I realize how common it was within certain communities. When I was applying to join Sahiyo, I had already known that the practice existed but I wanted to learn more, so I did some research. The prevalence of the practice around the world was astounding to me. Once I joined Sahiyo, I learned about the context of why FGC is performed in certain communities and how to address FGC in a culturally sensitive manner. 

When and how did you first get involved with Sahiyo?

I discovered a Sahiyo Development Internship application on my college’s career search engine. I decided to do more research on the organization because Sahiyo’s cause piqued my interest. When I went on the website, I found out that they were also looking for a U.S. policy intern. Being a political science major, this internship seemed like a perfect fit for me!

What does your work with Sahiyo involve?

The policy internship is relatively new, so I’ve been helping my supervisors build up the internship program. I’ve been working on a policy internship guide, which lists all of the tasks that I have been doing as a policy intern, so that this document can be referenced by other policy interns in the future. I work closely with the CT Coalition to End FGM/C, since Connecticut is one of the 9 states that doesn’t have a law that criminalizes FGC; I take notes for every coalition meeting we have, and reach out to other organizations to encourage them to join the coalition or offer their support. My supervisors and I have also been working on a policy cumulative report, which lists all of the policy and legislative work that Sahiyo has done in the past. This project was started before I joined the organization, but we are continuing to finalize it and it should be done around January. 

How has your involvement with Sahiyo impacted your life?

My time at Sahiyo has been extremely meaningful to me. On a career level, I have been able to witness all of the work that it takes for a non-profit organization to garner support for passing a piece of legislation. Since I’m studying governmental systems in school, I know how long it takes to get legislators to agree on passing a piece of legislation, but it has been so interesting to see this happen from the perspective of a non-profit organization because we are the ones who are doing the community outreach and educating the public. On a personal level, I have been so inspired by all of the survivors of FGC that I have come into contact with and all of their stories. It’s really admirable that they are so dedicated to Sahiyo’s cause of ending FGC, because I can imagine this work cannot be easy as a survivor. It could mean reliving trauma for many people and setbacks must feel fairly personal, yet they continue to stay motivated. It’s an amazing thing to witness. Also, everyone that I have interacted with has been so kind and understanding. We’re all constantly wanting to learn from one another and help each other grow.

What words of wisdom would you like to share with others who may be interested in supporting Sahiyo and the movement against FGC?

Just because you are not a survivor of FGC doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get involved in helping to end the practice. I myself am not a survivor, and when I was applying for this position, I was worried about overstepping or that I should have more knowledge and experience about the practice. However, it is important for people who aren’t survivors to spread awareness about FGC to communities who don’t know enough about it. Many of my friends and family have not undergone FGC and know very little about the practice, but through my education and experience at Sahiyo, I am able to teach people what FGC really is, why the practice is done, and how we can help stop it. FGC cannot just be an isolated issue in the communities that it affects, awareness needs to be spread much more vastly if we want to end the practice all together. 

By Megan Seaver

An essential part of the work to end female genital cutting (FGC) is to engage in community-based activism, which means to serve a specific group of people with a specific set of needs and values. Sahiyo’s Editorial Assistant Urvashi Sharma interviewed Saza Faradilla, a community-based activist in Singapore, to discuss how she engages in community-based activism when it comes to  the campaign to end FGC. 

Saza began the conversation with an explanation for her centralized, community-based approach to ending FGC in Singapore: 

“We started End FGC Singapore in November 2020, primarily because we believed that a cohesive, more ordered force needed to be established to bring an end to this practice.” From there, the first step was to “raise awareness among the Muslim community,” then “to lobby officials who occupy high positions of power,” and finally “to facilitate solidarity among Singaporeans in order to create an understanding that this…is a Singapore health problem.”

End FGC Singapore uses educational methods to challenge stereotypes surrounding FGC, including discussing how FGC should not be interpreted as a religious mandate for Muslim women. As part of their programs last year, End FGC Singapore decided that during the holy month of Ramadan, they would bring awareness to FGC through hosting a public awareness campaign. 

“This isn’t the first time we’re doing this – last year we distributed our booklets outside the mosque, but decided to take it to the next level this year in order to reach out to the people we’re trying to influence.”

The bazaar is set up during Ramdan which consists of food, vendors, and activities for families. Saza reflected on choosing the Bazaar, explaining that it was the event to pass out educational booklets on FGC because “the Bazaar is younger, attracts a larger crowd, and is more hip. It’s important for effective activism to be able to segment our audience and then provide targeted marketing. Those are the people whose minds we are trying to broaden and influence.” 

End FGC Singapore sought to speak with the younger generation of Muslims in Singapore because they felt that a younger audience would be more receptive and open minded to criticizing the practice of FGC; focusing on  younger Singaporeans also gives End FGC Singapore the opportunity to create generational change. These young people will one day hold positions of power in their communities, and because they have been exposed to End FGC Singapore’s activism, there is a greater chance they may put forward laws and ideas that help end FGC.

Saza also explored different people reactions when being handed the booklet: 

“Common questions that we receive are along the lines of, is this practice required in Islam, is this practice safe if it’s done by a doctor, is sunat perempuan the same as FGM, etc. So we addressed the issue from a health perspective, a religious perspective, and then a cultural perspective.”

End FGC Singapore have set themselves up to provide future activist programs because they have established a common connection within their community. End FGC Singapore also made sure that the information in the booklet was educational, while still appealing to inclusion of the Muslim community. 

But in distributing the booklet at the Bazaar, they did run into some challenges. “Most people are quite shocked at first because they don’t expect to talk about FGC in a Bazaar.” 

Saza’s work has also gained media attention, as the booklet program was featured in an article published by Mediacorp Today. However, not all the feedback has been positive: 

“The Ramadan Bazaar organizers reached out to us after the article came out and messaged me saying that I’m not supposed to do this because I didn’t get approval (in Singapore you need to get approval for everything). However, it is legal to give out any non-political booklets in all public spaces. So we had a meeting with them arguing that the Ramadan Bazaar is a public space.” 

Despite the pushback, End FGC Singapore's use of a public space to deliver the booklets is a testament of their commitment to community-based activism. Saza and her team know their community and have tailored their community engagement work towards the youth, who they hope will understand the harms of FGC and work towards prevention of it for future generations. This community-centered approach creates space for dialogue between communities and activist organizations, which is vital to ending the practice of FGC.

Sahiyo is thrilled to announce the successful conclusion of our 2023 Voices to End FGM/C workshop! This collaborative endeavor, orchestrated by the dedicated teams at Sahiyo U.S., StoryCenter, and the Asian Women's Shelter, brought together nine extraordinary women from diverse cultures and backgrounds on an inspiring journey of storytelling. 

The workshop began with two virtual sessions, fostering a profound sense of community and connection as participants joined online from all across the United States. During the second session, participants shared personal narratives around their experience with FGM/C, whether as survivors, advocates, and/or activists, within a supportive story circle. This laid the foundation for the powerful stories that would follow.

For the in-person segment, participants met in Berkeley, California to immerse themselves in an enriching, hands-on experience. Over the course of two days, participants learned about the art and different elements of creating a digital story. They worked collaboratively, capturing and combining their voices with moving imagery, and creating videos that beautifully encapsulates the essence of their narratives.

In the coming months, these inspiring videos will be finalized and prepared for public debut, becoming powerful tools to further amplify the voices of these women and their advocacy to end FGM/C. 

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who participated and supported this workshop, and we eagerly anticipate the impact of these stories as they contribute to the ongoing dialogue and change surrounding this critical issue.