Khudai Tanveer, Theta Chapter - June 2019

Read about Khudai's inspiring journey from intern to director of the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance! We are so proud of her leadership and the difference she makes in the lives of others each and every day.

What are you doing today and how did joining Kappa Phi Gamma Sorority, Inc. prepare you for this? I am currently serving as the Organizing Director for a national non profit, NQAPIA, the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance. I started working with NQAPIA (first as an intern to now as director) my freshman year after crossing into ΚΦΓ and figuring out I was Queer. The road to accepting myself and being accepted in the community started from there.

What are some community engagement/volunteer services you have partaken with after undergrad? During my time as External VP My first ever event was a women’s empowerment panel that brought out folks from different paths of life with politically charged backgrounds. That event was the first time I had Organized something and facilitated it too by myself. It required outreach, facilitation, development and most importantly, relationship building.

Are there any initiatives you started yourself within your community? Not something concrete but existing as a queer Muslim Person in itself and choosing to live Out & Boldly is a dangerous initiative. It requires me to choose my happiness and my identities over my safety. Not for myself but so that we can shift our communities for the future generations. This initiative is not for just now but for every queer Muslim kid after me. It’s about giving us the right to exist in our fullness.

What is your work/life/hobby balance? Terrible. My job is to work for the betterment of queer & trans API folks. I work from sun up to sun down. Sometimes I work from my bed and make calls all day and some days I’m in front of ICE offices protesting. When your work is the betterment of your community it doesn’t ever stop. Whether that’s consoling a kid who’s just gotten kicked out of their home for being gay or fighting for a trans man about to be deported to a country he doesn’t know. There’s no work life balance. You exist is consistent care and love for community. So we cope by learn boundaries. Boundaries allow us to make the decision we need to do that we can be around for the long haul and not the short burn.

What advice would you share with someone else who might be in your situation? You don’t have to be liked. Stick to your values. Until my professional life started, I was often labeled as the troublemaker, the rebel, the one who was always making things harder than they had to be. And I am so so so so glad for everyone that encouraged that fighter spirit because we gotta change the world. We have to call our folks out. We have to get uncomfortable because discomfort means we are entering the realm of newness and learning. We have to do better and better. So call out your LS, president, Little, Big, etc. on using the n word. Call them out for everything you know is wrong even if everyone in the room turns to look at you weird.

Be sure to check out the NQAPIA website to see all the advancements taking place!