Over the last twelve years of her professional career, Sameera has worked closely with Muslim communities (and professionals who serve them), developing and facilitating programs and curricula in the field of sexual health education. Her career started 2007, in Calgary, Canada, as a school-based Occupational Therapist. The following year, she was offered an opportunity to join a mental health promotion project, focused on empowering Muslims in schools and community spaces with mental health knowledge, language, and skills. A few years into her work on this team, she realized that the Islamic schools she worked with were lacking education in a critical area: sexual health education. Sameera worked closely with the schools to develop and facilitate Islamic sexual health education curricula, a field of work she quickly became passionate about.

Sameera continued to work within Muslim communities in Calgary, and across Canada, until 2015. During this time, she also became connected with a US-based national non-profit, HEART, which focused its work on sexual health education and violence prevention in Muslim communities. Upon moving to the Washington, D.C. area in late 2015, Sameera spent two years working with DC Public Schools as an Occupational Therapist. In the summer of 2017, she joined HEART’s team as the full-time Director of Education, focusing her work not only in the DC area, but also in communities and at conferences across the United States. In her role with HEART, she curated content for Muslim communities, implemented community-based programs, and conducted professional development training at colleges and with institutions.

Sameera transitioned out of HEART in August 2020 to focus more on work-life balance and spiritual reflection. She recently started Sexual Health for Muslims, to provide accessible and spiritually-grounded sexual health education for Muslims, from the comfort of their home (and hers!) – all through online platforms. She also provides professional development training and consultation for service providers/organizations who work with Muslim clients in the field of sexual and/or mental health. Sameera is also a registered-yoga teacher and regularly facilitates online classes, including trauma-informed for those who identify as Muslim women.

Pronouns and identities:

She/her/hers

Connect with Sameera:

• Website: www.sexualhealthformuslims.com
• Instagram: @sexualhealthformuslims
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/s3xualhealthformuslims