Providing Culturally Informed Maternal Mental Health Care for Muslim Women

Keynote address by Janan Najeeb

Janan Najeeb, a founding member and the current President of the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition has been a spokeswoman for Wisconsin’s Muslim community to media outlets, government officials, interfaith leaders, academic institutions, hospitals, and a wide range of community groups.  A microbiologist by profession, Ms. Najeeb left her career because of the tremendous need to bridge the gap between the erroneous perception of Islam and Muslims in society and the actual beliefs and practices of the overwhelming majority of the world’s Muslims.  Ms. Najeeb serves on many committees and community boards, including the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, the annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration, Wisconsin Public Radio, the Airport Meditation Room, and she currently chairs the Committee for Interfaith Understanding of the Interfaith Conference of Greater Milwaukee.  Dedicated to social justice and anti-racism work, Ms. Najeeb is a highly sought after speaker.  She is a frequent lecturer at colleges and universities across the state and has previously served as adjunct professor at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, teaching the Religious Culture of Islam.  In addition, Ms.Najeeb directs the Islamic Resource Center on the south side of Milwaukee, a cultural center which hosts Wisconsin’s first Islamic public lending library. In 2015, Ms. Najeeb founded the Milwaukee Muslim Film Festival, one of the only annual citywide Muslim Film Festivals in the Country.  In 2016, she became the first Muslim ever to offer a prayer at the Wisconsin State Assembly in Madison, and in February of 2018 she launched the Wisconsin Muslim Journal, an online newspaper that publishes twice a week.  Under the direction of Ms. Najeeb, the MMWC was recently awarded a grant to open the first culturally specific Domestic Violence program run by a Muslim organization in the State of Wisconsin.

Janan Najeeb is the recipient of numerous awards and recognitions including the International Institute of Wisconsin’s World Citizen Award, The Wisconsin Community Fund’s Grantee of the Year Award, CAIR’s (Council on American Islamic Relations) national award for activism, ACLU’s Special Recognition Award, UW-Milwaukee’s Scholar in Residence award, Dr. King, Jr. Celebration award, and The Woman of Honor award presented by six women’s organizations including the American Association of University Women.

An activist, educator, speaker, businesswoman and writer, Wisconsin Woman Magazine named Najeeb a Leader Making a Difference.  Ms. Najeeb is married to Dr. Waleed Najeeb, a local physician and they are the parents of 5 children.