About

Syeda (Fiana) Arbab is a Bangladeshi-Muslim-American woman invested in work that uplifts marginalized and oppressed groups through an intersectional transnational feminist analysis. Fiana recently graduated with a Master of Global Affairs (MGA), with a concentration in Sustainable Development and a minor in International Peace Studies. She served as the Graduate Student Union representative for MGA students and a student associate for the Mediation Center of the Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies. Fiana holds a B.A. in Psychology and Women’s and Gender studies with a minor in Sociology from the University of Michigan-Dearborn. After undergrad, Fiana served as the statewide youth organizer for the Michigan Roundtable for Diversity and Inclusion, where she worked with marginalized youth in Flint, Benton Harbor, Detroit, and tribal communities across Michigan. She also conducted legislative analysis on youth justice and led the policy fellowship program for Georgia Shift, a nonprofit that mobilizes marginalized youth in Georgia towards participatory democracy. She is also a founder and board secretary of the Michigan nonprofit Rising Voices of Asian American Families as well as a board member of the Michigan Student Power Alliance. She is passionate about immigrant and refugee rights, anti-racism, gender equity, and decolonial methodologies for sustainable peace and development. Fiana is a recipient of a 2021 Kellogg Postgraduate Fellowship to support her professional development during a 10-month fellowship with Oxfam International's DC Advocacy office.