Rooted in the Arab arts and language, this workshop offers artistic and educational programming for youth that enriches cross-cultural understanding and celebrates diversity.  The program involves five teaching artists delivering three hours of presentation/workshops, so that at least two different sessions are offered in any of the seven hours (10:00am-5:00pm) of the program: including percussion (doumbek), string instrument (oud), dance (Rai), storytelling (Muslim black American), calligraphy (Arabic script). Each of the two concurrent sessions in any of the hours of this program would attract students within the age ranges of 5-9 and 10-14.

As Founder and Chief Empowerment Officer of J.E.S.S.I.C.A Cares, Asiya Jamillah Nasir Shaheed is focused on one mission: Equipping girls, teens and women with the tools they need to embrace their unique talents, achieve goals and develop a satisfying path in life. In addition, her extensive work in community initiatives teaching battered women and homeless individuals as well as her training as a chaplain increased her passion for mentoring and heightened her sense of compassion for others.

Asiya will be offering two workshops at the Festival: “I am Special: No Negative Labels,” and “The Sunnah Continues: 5 Tips of a True Leader."

M.O. Yuksel loves writing stories about diverse historical figures, and fascinating cultures. She is the author of “In My Mosque," which received starred reviews from the School Library Journal, and Publishers Weekly. It is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard selection and was highly praised by The Horn Book, Booklist, and Kirkus. Her upcoming picture book biography, ONE WISH, about Fatima al-Fihri, a 9th-century woman who pioneered the oldest university in the world in Fez, Morocco releases with Harper-Collins on January 18, 2022.

She was born in Turkey and immigrated to the U.S. when she was seven years old. She has a bachelor's degree in English Literature from Fordham University, and a master's degree in International Affairs from Columbia University.

Jamilah Thompkins-Bigelow, M.S.Ed, is a Philadelphia-based educator and children’s book author. A curriculum writer and former English teacher, she has educated children and teens in traditional and alternative learning settings for 15 years. As an inaugural AMAL fellow with the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (MuslimARC), she developed foundational curricular frameworks for youth and adult anti-racist programming. Her picture books and short stories, which feature young Black and Muslim protagonists, have been recognized as the best in children’s literature by Time Magazine, Read Across America, and NPR. These works  include “Mommy’s Khimar,” “Once Upon an Eid (anthology contributor),” and “Your Name is a Song,” as well as soon-to-be-released books: “Abdul’s Story,” and “Hold Them Close.”