I started Fugees Family, the first accredited school for refugees in the U.S. when I realized that my teenage soccer players - kids from all over the world who had been resettled in Clarkston, GA - weren't learning how to read or write in English. The book I wrote, Learning America, tells that story - including many of the mistakes I've made and lessons I've learned along the way. I have always learned best through stories, so I wrote this book with that in mind, and I hope that it helps people think differently about how we welcome newcomers into the U.S. My next book, due out in Spring '23 is a memoir for young adult audiences - the book I wish I'd had growing up. As an introvert, I thought writing these books would allow me to be alone more and have fewer conversations with people, but that's turning out not to be the case so far. It's ok. In all seriousness, it has been a privilege to have the time and space to write these books, and I'm grateful to be here.

I'm a gay Arab Muslim woman living in Columbus, Ohio, and I'm always up for talking about the challenge of navigating different cultures, different languages, different parts of our own identities that make us who we are. I'm wife to an amazing woman, "Mama" to three great kids, and "Coach" to every Fugee who has ever come through my programs. I love cooking to feed a crowd, reading murder mysteries - preferrably on the beach - and solving the world's problems in my head when I can't sleep at night. Ask me anything...

PROOF: https://i.redd.it/wbopc9skeyr81.jpg