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e-mail: info@ccmw.com

ABOUT OUR Newfoundland and Labrador CHAPTER

President - Cara Begg-Reid

Cara works in women’s healthcare as a Registered Midwife.  For the last decade, she has led healthcare initiatives specialising in providing accessible, culturally sensitive and trauma informed care for clients affected by housing instability, mental health adversities, addictions and gender based violence.  Cara was active in organization building and management in Newfoundland and Labrador pertaining to Midwifery implementation in the province.  She was the Chair of College of Midwives of Newfoundland and Labrador for 4 years.  She looks forward to working with the Muslim community in NL to build equality, equity and empowerment for all Muslim Women in the province.

Vice President - Dr. Sobia Shaheen Shaikh

Dr. Sobia Shaheen Shaikh is a faculty member at the School of Social Work at Memorial University in St. John’s,Newfoundland and Labrador (NL), the Co-Chair of the Anti-Racism Coalition of NL, and Co-Lead of the Addressing Islamophobia in NL project. Sobia’s community-engaged scholarship focuses on supporting intersectional antiracist praxes. She has deep community ties with anti-racist, Indigenous, arts, women’s, disability, youth, student and environmental justice organizations across Canada, and especially in NL. 

As well, Sobia is a creative writer, and a founding member of The Quilted Collective of Racialized NL Writers and of The Creators’ Collective NL: Indigenous, Racialized and Migrant Artists and Arts Workers. She is proud to be joining the executive team of the Canadian Council of Muslim Women-NL.

Secretary Treasurer - Shazia Shaheen

Ms. Shazia Shaheen is a long-time advocate of women’s rights and has worked in various capacities with women and human rights organizations in Pakistan. Previously, she was the Coordinator of Mumkin: Ending Violence against Women Alliance, Punjab. Ms. Shaheen has also served as co-convener of Ending Gender-Based Violence and Girls in Islamabad for two years, from 2017-2019. She was among the notified members of a provincial committee from civil society in Punjab, Pakistan, to work and conduct regional consultations on the Domestic Violence and Protection Act 2016.

Ms. Shazia is a founding member of Women Beyond Borders: Champions of Peace and Freedom for Local Change in South and Central Asia. She occasionally writes in national newspapers and contributed as a lead researcher on several research publications on women in conflict situations in the case of Kashmir, the role of women peasants in a land rights movement in Punjab. She is an alumnus of The World Learning Exchange: Legislative Fellowship Program, United States Department of State, Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs USA 2013. She has also been awarded a fellowship by the US Exchange programme under International Visitors Leadership Programme, 2015. She has been heading the Programme portfolio in Strengthening Participatory Organization (SPO) as a Head Programme of implemented more than 30 projects across Pakistan encompassing various sectors, including Education, Health, inclusion, and promotion & strengthening of diversity in the case of religious and ethnic minorities and gender-based violence. She is also a co-author of a research Publication, Justice Prelude: Women’s access to Justice. Ms. Shaheen has served in several volunteer positions as a Board of Directors and member of the General Body in Not-for-Profit Organizations. 

Member at Large - Bushra Toma

My name is Bushra Toma. I am a teacher by profession. I have been teaching in primary and secondary schools since 2010. I have a B.S.S. and M.S.S. degree in Sociology from University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. I obtained my Bachelor of Education and Master of Education (Educational Administration) degrees from Bangladesh. Currently, I am pursuing my 2nd Master of Education ( Educational Leadership Studies)degree  at Memorial University of Newfoundland. I came here in Canada in August  2021 to pursue higher education and gain international experience as well. In my personal life, I'm married with an army officer and a beloved mother of two daughters.