Mission.

We seek to uphold and educate Kurdish-Americans about their civil rights. This is primarily achieved through organizing and connecting our community with the society at large through civic engagement, grassroots mobilization, advocacy, and empowering historically disenfranchised segments of our community like women and the youth and educate our community about their legal rights and the resources needed to access them.

Executive Board.

Wan Rashid

Wan is a data analytics major, currently pursuing a Master’s degree in public policy and public administration at the American University in Washington DC. She also works at Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition as the Community Relations Coordinator in Nashville, TN. She is the executive director of the national Kurdish-American organization Effendi Foundation.

Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer

Yara Ismael

Yara has been involved in social justice issues in general and the Kurdish-American community in particular in numerous ways. EF was born out of the need for a national organization with a clear focus on the components of our mission with a proactive approach. She is also the co-founder of the Kurdish Refugee Relief Foundation and is also currently working with Amnesty International while pursuing her B.A. in International Relations and Human Rights at Claremont McKenna College. She has shed light on these issues in platforms such as the Wall Street Journal, BBC, Huffington Post, VoA, Rudaw, & Kurdistan 24.

Sara Zandy

Sara is based in Florida and founded the UF Kurdish Student Association to educate others about the Kurds and their cause. Outside of KRR, she is the president of the UF KSA and is the communications director for the Effendi Foundation. She is currently pursuing a BA in behavioral and cognitive neuroscience at the University of Florida and works to mobilize and empower Kurdish communities locally and abroad.

Kani Murad

Still pursuing a bachelor’s degree, Kani has utilized her time and resources in education as a Kurdish student in Denver, Colorado, to better her community. She believes that there are no limits to this community and that collectivism, true unity, and liberation are essential pillars to voice those who have been unvoiced. Kani is currently establishing an organization affiliated with the University of Colorado Denver to represent, empower, and educate about ethnic minorities in the Middle East.

Dilann Yasin

After co-founding her local Kurdish Student Organization at Eastern Michigan University, Dilann could not stay away from volunteering and fostering the bonds within our Kurdish-American community. Although she became a scientist after graduating with her Bachelor’s in Chemistry, Dilann has always been an activist for the Kurdish cause, particularly independence and women’s rights in the region. She was an active board member of KNCNA from 2019 to early 2021 and is currently a part of EF as their community relations chair. As of Fall 2021, she is pursuing her Master’s in Chemical Engineering.

Advisory Board.

“The future of Kurdish-American communities depends not only on educating ourselves about our civil rights and liberties but also using those rights to ensure our communities have a voice at all levels of society. “