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Ahlam Said founded mennas in 2021 as a love letter to her motherland of Yemen. Ahlam’s creative skills stretch through film production, community organizing and social entrepreneurship. She's hosted a supper club alongside the New York Times and her social enterprise has been featured in Elle Magazine. She currently serves on the board of Sapelo Square. Ahlam is passionate about supporting communities in Yemen through livelihood projects.

Ateqah Khaki is a producer and media strategist with two decades of experience at the intersection of storytelling, emerging media and social change. Much of her work has focused on the stories of Muslims and Muslim-Americans in post 9-11 America. A New Yorker at heart, she currently resides in Toronto, Canada with her partner and two young children. She is an avid gardener, and can be found lurking around the internet as @ateqah and @planteqah.

Ahmed Esa is a first-generation Yemeni-American, Queens native. Growing up Ahmed was inspired by elders practicing traditional Yemeni herbal medicine, which led him to pursue a career in Pharmacy. In his leisure time, Ahmed is passionate about blockchain technology, and holding space for marginalized communities on the blockchain. As our NFT Lead, Ahmed hopes to create opportunities for the artists of Yemen and the diaspora.

Ali Suliman was born in Yemen and raised in Brooklyn. An artistic creator, Ali graduated from the Fashion Institute of Technology and is a cofounder of Yafa Cafe, and Studio Jebel: a creative production house that boosts the stories of the diaspora through art and film. He is continuously inspired by the vision of a sustainable infrastructure for the Yemeni creative community.

Rooj Alwazir is a Yemeni-American creative multi-hyphenate with over a decade of experience in documentary and commercial film production. She is currently working as a producer helping to execute social campaigns for major commercial brands and entertainment networks such as Google, Facebook Watch, Hulu and more. When Rooj is not living her life via sticky notes, you can catch her running trails, nerding out about herbs, and organizing.

Bayan Abbasi is a first generation Palestinian-American, with a passion for supporting small businesses through her love for Marketing & PR. She is a graduate of Rutgers & Georgetown Universities, and owner of Strategic Branding communications firm. Over the past 10+ years she has supported several businesses from family farms to children’s authors. An NJ native, she has lived in four states on both coasts, and currently resides in Cambridge, MA with her husband and three children.

Farah Malik is a second generation entrepreneur who has lived in eight countries, and is currently based in Istanbul, Tukey. She launched one of the first disruptive and socially innovative global fashion companies that coupled luxury craftsmanship with ethics and sustainability. When she's not advising young creatives on business development and strategy, Farah can be found melding high and low culture in some urban setting or trotting about giving a cheeky sermon on gentrification.

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The event is produced in partnership with:

• Yafa Cafe: A Yemeni-American owned coffee shop in Sunset Park, Brooklyn that sustainably and ethically sources coffee from Yemen.
  
• Sommwhere: A portfolio of sustainable venues in New York.
  
• Sawa: Aan NFT platform for underrepresented artists and social action.
  

Proceeds raised at the event will benefit Yemen Aid USA. Established in 2016, Yemen Aid works to provide humanitarian relief on the ground in Yemen, and to bring the Yemeni message to the international community through advocacy work.