Laila Alawa (b. 1991), a Syrian-American advocate for media equity, racial justice, and the inclusion of Muslim voices, began her advocacy work in 2011 while researching social bias and perception at Princeton University (2009–2013).
In 2015, she founded a digital media magazine, The Tempest, serving as its CEO until it folded in 2021. Created by and for women and nonbinary people from diverse racial, religious, and economic backgrounds, The Tempest was one of the first U.S.-based media publications to center the lived experiences of Muslim women, immigrants, LGBTQ+ individuals, and people of color.
By amplifying the voices of marginalized people, The Tempest disrupted traditional media narratives, created a space where intersectional stories could be told on their own terms, and sparked dialogue on identity, power, and belonging in a rapidly shifting cultural landscape.
During 2016, the final year of the Obama Administration, Alawa also served as a Senior Fellow in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. There, she worked to improve federal outreach to marginalized communities and advised on policies that protect civil liberties, focusing on issues affecting American Muslim communities – discriminatory surveillance practices, barriers to civic engagement, and the rise of Islamophobic rhetoric and hate crimes.
In an era marked by rising xenophobia, Islamophobia, and social polarization, Alawa’s work highlights the ongoing struggle for human rights and equitable representation in media, reminding us that stories shape societies — and who gets to tell them matters.
