Our Team
Board Member
Fouzia Babar
Fouzia Babar has served in finance leadership roles since early 2017 where she joined as the very first employee at Avive Solutions, Inc., a medical device and software company working on innovative AED technology developed to improve sudden cardiac arrest outcomes. At Avive Solutions, while serving as the Head of Finance and prior to that as the Vice President of Business Operations, Fouzia helped scale the company of four with $1K in seed money, to 50 employees and $43M raised, including Series A capital to date. She also supported the organization in obtaining the fastest FDA Pre-Market approval for an AED in history. In her various roles, Fouzia has been responsible for financing, fundraising, tax strategy, regulatory support, treasury management, human resources, facilities, and business operations. Prior to Avive Solutions, Inc., Fouzia served in various finance leadership roles in Fortune 500 healthcare, construction services, and professional services organizations. Fouzia currently holds a BS and an MBA, but is perpetually a student of knowledge. She is currently a part-time student in Arabic Grammar, is passionate in her study of the mystical dimensions of Islam, traditional Islamic Creed, the psychology of the Four Temperaments. Fouzia is passionate and considerate about people and purpose-driven about the communities she serves. She finds the most fulfillment working with (and playing with!) elementary age children. Originally from the Washington D.C. metro area, Fouzia lives with her husband and two sons in south Bay Area, CA.
Secretary of the Board of Directors,
Deputy Executive Director &
Co-Founder
Sara Mostafavi
Sara Mostafavi is an attorney who has focused on immigration & nationality law since 2005, with practice interests including VAWA (Violence Against Women Act), human-rights based asylum cases, as well as addressing national security scrutiny faced by Muslims here in the United States.
Community service and intrafaith dialogue are guiding principles that have animated her work as a board member of CAIR - SFBA (Council on American Islamic Relations - SF Bay Area office), a board member for NCIC (Northern California Islamic Council), a member of the Community Advisory Board (CAB) on Muslim Mental Health, as well as her past work at the Hub Foundation and as a board member for ICCNC (Islamic Cultural Center of Northern California).
She has degrees in Sociology and Microbiology from U.C. Davis and has a Juris Doctorate from the George Washington University Law School. Sara lives in Danville with her husband and two daughters and enjoys hiking, camping, traveling, reading, studying about Islamic spirituality, and connecting with her halaqas in her free time.
Treasurer of the Board of Directors &
Co-Founder
Mona Midani
Mona Midani serves as a co-founder, board member and manager of clinical operations of Maristan, a Muslim mental health non-profit organization dedicated to providing culturally and religiously congruent trainings, clinical services and educational programming. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Social Action from Palo Alto University. In addition, she holds a diploma in Professional Counselling and a certificate in Family and Youth Support from Canada. Mona is also the Lab Manager and Researcher of the Stanford Muslim Mental Health and Islamic Psychology Lab at Stanford University, and a Youth Educator with the Rahmah Foundation. She is an incoming PhD in clinical psychology at Palo Alto University. Mona is an avid reader of fantasy books and loves hiking and camping!
Co-Founder
Dr. Rania Awaad
Shaykha Dr. Rania Awaad M.D., is a co-founder of both Maristan, a holistic mental health nonprofit serving Muslim communities and The Rahmah Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to educating Muslim women and girls. Her research and clinical work are focused on the mental health of Muslims. Dr. Awaad has pioneered in founding the first Muslim Mental Health Community Advisory Board (BAMMH CAB) in the US. She has also established multiple Muslim mental health clinics, clinical training programs for clinicians, and educational training programs for religious and community leaders that are custom-tailored to addressing the mental health needs of Muslim communities.
Professionally, she is a Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Stanford University School of Medicine where she is the Director of the Stanford Muslim Mental Health & Islamic Psychology Lab. She also serves as the Associate Division Chief for Public Mental Health and Population Sciences as well as the section co-Chief of Diversity and Cultural Mental Health in the Department of Psychiatry and Stanford. She pursued her psychiatric residency training at Stanford where she also completed a postdoctoral clinical research fellowship with the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). She is also faculty at the Abbasi Program for Islamic Studies at Stanford University as well as Stanford’s Affiliate Chaplain.
Prior to studying medicine, she pursued classical Islamic studies in Damascus, Syria and holds certifications (ijaza) in Qur’an, Islamic Law and other branches of the Islamic Sciences. Dr. Awaad has also previously served as the first female Professor of Islamic Law at Zaytuna College, a Muslim Liberal Arts College in Berkeley, CA. Dr. Awaad has been the recipient of several awards and grants for her work. She is a nationally recognized speaker, award-winning teacher, researcher and author in both the Islamic and medical sciences. Follow her @Dr.RaniaAwaad