Tag Archives: Sameera Fazili – ShoreBank – USA

Social media hails moment hijab-wearing US official Sameera Fazili delivers White House briefing

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Jammu & Kashmir /Washington, USA :

Sameera Fazili is the daughter of Kashmiri immigrants [AFP] / pix: english.alaraby.co.uk

A hijab-wearing US official spoke at a White House press briefing on Wednesday, prompting social media users to hail the moment as symbolic, after year of Islamophobia normalised by the previous adminstration. 

Sameera Fazili, Deputy Director of the National Economic Council, addressed reporters on President Joe Biden’s executive order to address electronic chip shortages and other critical supply chain issues.

Fazili, a graduate of Harvard University and Yale Law School, was appointed to the key position in the new administration last month. The National Economic Council deals with the economic policymaking process and provides policy advice to the president.

Social media users welcomed Fazili’s first appearance as an official in the Biden administration, with some interpreting the image of the hijab-wearing Muslim official as symbolising a shift away from Donald Trump’s legacy of bigotry towards Muslims.

“A month after Trump is gone and we have a sister in hijab giving the press briefing at the White House”, wrote Imraan Siddiqi, executive director of the Washington chapter of the Muslim Council of American Islamic Relations (CAIR). “The Islamaphobes are weeping,” he added.

Shahed Amanullah, a Muslim tech entrepreneur who served as a senior advisor to the US State Department between 2011 and 2014, expressed similar sentiments.

He described the appearance of Fazili, the daughter of Kashmiri immigrants, as showing “how far we have come in just a month – from incompetence and exclusion to intelligence and inclusion.”

Aymaan Ismail, a US Muslim journalist focusing on identity and religion, compared Fazili’s appearance to anti-Islam activist Brigette Gabriel , who was invited to the White House by Trump:

“Trump invited Islamophobes like Brigette Gabrial into the WH. Today, sister @sameerafazili delivered a press briefing. My how quickly things have changed”

Shortly after taking office in 2017 Trump instituted a “Muslim travel ban”, which Biden reversed in a flurry of executive orders last month.

The ban was one of several xenophobic campaign promises made by Trump, which included the creation of a Muslim registry and the surveillance of mosques.

He commented on alleged ‘threat’ posed by Muslims living in the West throughout his presidency, fuelling rage among white supremacists and the far-right.

source: http://www.english.alaraby.co.uk / The New Arab / by The New Arab Staff / Homepage> News / February 25th, 2021

Joe Biden names Indian-American Sameera Fazili as Deputy Director of National Economic Council

Amazing Feats, Community Involvement / Social Issues, Leaders, NRI's / PIO's, World Opinion, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Srinagar, JAMMU & KASHMIR / Atlanta, Georgia ,U.S.A. :

File image of Sameera Fazili, Deputy Director, National Economic Council at the White House| Twitter/ Sameera Fazili

‘Sameera Fazili has been named as Deputy Director, National Economic Council at the White House, the Biden-Harris Transition announced on Friday.

US President-elect Joe Biden has appointed Indian-American Sameera Fazili to a key White House position related to economy.

Sameera Fazili has been named as Deputy Director, National Economic Council at the White House, the Biden-Harris Transition announced on Friday.

The National Economic Council coordinates the economic policy making process and provide economic policy advice to the US president.

Fazili is currently the Economic Agency lead on the Biden-Harris Transition. She was earlier posted at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta where she served as the Director of Engagement for Community and Economic Development.

Fazili is the second Kashmiri-origin Indian-American appointed to a key position in the incoming Biden administration.

In December, Aisha Shah was named as Partnerships Manager at the White House Office of Digital Strategy.

In the Obama-Biden administration, Fazili served as a senior policy advisor on the White House’s National Economic Council and as a senior advisor at the US Treasury Department in both Domestic Finance and International Affairs.

Prior to that she was a clinical lecturer of law at Yale Law School. Originally from Buffalo, she now lives in Georgia with her husband and three children. Fazili is a graduate of Yale Law School and Harvard College.

Before her time in government, Fazili was a clinical lecturer at Yale Law School’s community and economic development clinic, where she helped start a CDFI bank and a local anti-foreclosure initiative, and expanded the clinic’s work to international microfinance.

She also worked at ShoreBank, the nation’s first CDFI (community development financial institution) bank. Her work in finance has spanned consumer, housing, small business and microfinance.

She received her law degree from Yale Law School and her bachelor of arts in social studies from Harvard College.

source: http://www.indianexpress.com / The Indian Express / Home> World / by PTI / Washington – January 16th, 2021