Meet the Board.
Maytha Alhassen
Maytha Alhassen is a writer, journalist, professor and a pop culture collaborative senior fellow. As a social justice organizer, Alhasssen helped to start abolitionist organizations and collectives like the Social Justice Institute at Occidental College, Muslim Anti-racism Collective, Believers Bail Out, and Arabs for Black Lives.
Alhassen received her Ph.d. and M.A. from USC in American Studies + Ethnicity, a B.A. in political science and Arabic + Islamic studies from UCLA in 2004 and a M.A in anthropology from Columbia University in 2008. While at Columbia, Alhassen conducted research for the University's Malcolm X project and facilitated arts-based workshops with incarcerated youth at Riker’s Island through Blackout Arts Collective. Alhassen has decades of experience in education, arts-based social justice organizing, media/journalism, global travel and healing practices (yoga, reiki, doula + meditation) and poetry writing and performance.
Nyisha Green-Washington
Nyisha is an active member in the San Diego community advocating for Social Justice and Human Rights. Her journey began getting her degree in Public Health with a focus on reducing barriers in access to healthcare. She became passionate in advocating for Mental Health awareness/access and upon her arrival to San Diego worked for an organization that housed the AB-109 Senate Bill program. This program provides services to early release low-risk offenders with a severe mental illness diagnosis which include, individual therapy, group therapy, life-skills, case-management, housing services etc. In addition to mental health advocacy, she has always been passionate in Social Justice work, especially in Reproductive Justice. She became a Full Spectrum Doula and started her own doula and advocacy small business called Give Light Doula & Advocacy Services with the hopes of combating the dire Black birthing crisis in the U.S. Some of her other work in the community include being the Co-founder of March for Black Womxn San Diego, Co-founder and of the Black Lives Matter: San Diego Chapter and newly elected Coalition for Reproductive Justice Board member as of February 2021.
Aida Mackic
Aida Mackic is a professional community organizer and political advocate. As a Hijabi Muslim woman, preserving individual freedom and choice for women in all aspects of their lives has always been at the center of her personal and political identity. In the Community Outreach Group, she has found the perfect fit for her skills, talents, and goals.Aida currently works as a National Program Director with C.O.G, leading a team of Campaign Managers working on Local, State and Federal level. Prior to joining Community Outreach Group, Aida served as the Lead Organizer in numerous political and issue-oriented campaigns, including recently as the Florida Community Organizing Director for the 2020 Elizabeth Warren for President campaign where she managed all aspects of the candidate’s Florida community organizing efforts. Before that campaign, Aida served as the Political Coordinator for the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), FPSU, supporting the union’s living wage and Fight for $15 campaign, including spearheading a coalition of progressive organizations to push forward $15/hr. minimum wage petition initiative for the Florida 2020 ballot.
Aida was born in a small village in Bosnia-Hercegovina and immigrated to the United States as a war refugee when she was eleven years old. Aida currently works and lives in Florida with her husband and their four children.
Shaista Patel
Shaista Patel is a Pakistani-Canadian Muslim scholar of critical Muslim Studies in the Department of Ethnic Studies at the University of California, San Diego. She has received her PhD in social justice education and graduate certificate in women and gender studies from the University of Toronto. Trained as an interdisciplinary scholar, the questions she asks draw upon Indigenous, Black, Dalit and anti-caste, Muslim, and transnational feminist theories.
Monika Y. Langarica
Monika Y. Langarica is the immigrants’ right staff attorney at the ACLU of San Diego & Imperial Counties, where she engages in impact litigation, policy work, and other legal advocacy to defend and advance the rights of migrants & immigrants in our border region. Prior to joining the ACLU in 2018, Monika was a senior staff attorney with the ABA Immigration Justice Project of San Diego, where she led a team that primarily represented detained immigrants with mental health and capacity issues in deportation proceedings. A native of southeast San Diego and daughter of immigrants, Monika believes in fighting for a society in which all people are free to move and have access to resources they need to thrive. Monika sits on the board of the San Diego La Raza Lawyers Association Scholarship Fund and is a co-founder of the Borderlands Get Free Bond Fund. She graduated from the University of Southern California and UC Berkeley School of Law and is licensed to practice law in California.