By: Nadia S. Mohammad and Moniza Khokhar

Courtesy: ELAN Magazine

Bringing together the next generation of Muslim American professional leaders, the Council for the Advancement of Muslim Professionals (CAMP) held its annual conference this past weekend.  Held in Princeton, New Jersey, the summit aimed to ensure that Muslim professionals build a strong, vibrant, confident, economically strong and well-educated network.

The day kicked off with keynote speaker Reza Aslan, author of No god but God, revving the crowd up with an energetic speech about the perception of Muslims in mainstream media and how young Muslims should take ownership of their identity to set things straight.  Reza emphasized the importance of capitalizing on existing financial strengths and channeling those resources towards the betterment of humanity and in this way educating those misinformed about who Muslims really are.  He particularly stressed the importance of breaking down stereotypes by communicating through the arts, such as music and film.

The next panel tackled the issue of “Being Muslim in America.” Star panelists included: Wajahat Ali, playwright, journalist, attorney; Precious Rasheeda Muhammad, Council for a Parliament of the World’s Religions; Hussein Rashid, professor and blogger; Fatima Shama, commissioner, NYC Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.  Each spoke about their personal experiences and embracing the diverse Muslim American community.

The “Faith at Work” panel discussed issues about faith in the workplace and how to maintain one’s faith at work.  This panel spoke about how religion is an important aspect of diversity and how some Muslim professionals are leveraging the growing opportunity to develop faith-based affinity groups, or employee resource groups, at their workplace.  Farhana Khera, president and executive director of Muslim Advocates said, “Know your rights and don’t be afraid to ask for what you require.”

Breakout sessions allowed conference goers to attend more intimate discussions centering on strategies for entrepreneurs and building brands.  Other sessions discussed reputation management and how to create opportunities for career advancement.  Muslim American mayors from cities in New Jersey and California discussed opportunities for Muslims to become more civically and politically involved in America.

A particularly interesting seminar was hosted by Ronald Brown, a leading expert and innovator in the fields of leadership development.  He spoke about how to attain and maintain a position of power within your organization.  Brown outlined four power skills-"loyalty aggressiveness, socialization, and subordination” as areas to address when determining one’s individual leadership style.

Perhaps the most endearing lecture was the one given by the last keynote speaker, Shazi Visram, founder and CEO of HappyBaby.  She discussed the process of entrepreneurship and the constant struggle to shape her products to fit the marketplace’s needs.  Visram shared an anecdote about the reality of being an entrepreneur, saying that at one point during the development of her business she had maxed out all of her credit cards and was stuck at a subway stop because she did not even have enough money for a trip home.  She made it home after a passing friend was able to make it on the train after a friend gave her some extra cash.  She emphasized dedication, focus and hard work when struggling to establish a young business.

Overall, the event provided not only a tremendous opportunity to network but also to learn and have fun.