Event promotes leadership for Muslim women

The Minnesota chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is co-sponsoring a leadership summit for young Muslim women in Rochester on Saturday afternoon.

The event, organized by the Rochester Muslim Community Circle, is designed to teach leadership skills and promote community engagement among high school and college-age Muslim women in southeastern Minnesota.

CAIR's Executive Director Lori Saroya said the event aims to help girls explore potential careers, particularly in the areas of public health and law.

"We're going to come together and talk about just really important issues that affect the community such as leadership, civil rights, community activism, civic engagement," Saroya said, "and to really have that discussion and get them engaged in these issues so they can start building careers around these topics."

Saroya added: "I think this will give them an opportunity to just really think for themselves of what they want to do, with their lives, with their careers, and start thinking even career-wise, that these are areas they can explore. They can be lawyers, they can be politicians, they can do whatever they want with their lives."

An estimated 150,000 Muslims live in Minnesota.