Haleema Bharoocha is a Gen Z South Asian American, named on She the People’s list of 25 Under 25: Women of Color to Watch. Following the teachings of the Quran “stand firm in justice be it against yourselves or your parents,” she speaks truth to power.

Haleema is a social impact consultant, facilitator, and public speaker with 6 years of experience. She believes in empowering communities with the tools they need to drive change. She has trained over 1,400 people in equity-related topics including Islamophobia, bystander intervention/community safety, advocacy, anti-racism, professional development, and gender-based violence. She has consulted for a variety of clients on how to meaningfully deepen their impact and advance their mission. Haleema has spoken in front of audiences of over 500 people alongside leaders like Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Assemblymember Wendy Carrillo, Vien Truong and others.

Haleema believes in equipping those most impacted with the tools to advocate and push for systems change. Her approach to systems change is exemplified in her work as the former Advocacy Director at Alliance for Girls where she co-lead the first youth-driven community initiative, Not One More Girl, to address gender-based violence on BART, the nation’s 5th largest public transportation system. This initiative centered on cultural strategy, policy change, community feedback, and youth-led research. Not One More Girl is a national model cited by Transit Center and was a proof of concept for SB 1161, a transit safety bill signed by California’s Governor Newsom.

Haleema graduated from Seattle University with a BA in Sociology at age 19 where she started the Gender Justice Center, a student-led community space serving women, transgender, and gender non conforming students. She is an alum of the Solis Policy Institute and the Greenlining Leadership Academy. Haleema is currently pursuing her Master in Public Policy at the nation’s #1 ranked policy school, UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy. You can find her work in Teen Vogue, Bloomberg, SF Chronicle, Seattle Times, Vogue, KQED, USA Today, and more.

Haleema’s commitment to gender justice comes from her lived experience and from the dire needs of her community. Haleema believes that our success as a society should be measured by the state of girls and gender-expansive youth of color. When they thrive, we all do.