Welcome to our most ambitious campaign... ever. This year is MuslimGirl.com's 10 Year Anniversary from when we first launched as a blog out of a teenage girl's bedroom. The Muslim Girl Foundation is an independent non-profit entity started over a year ago with a simple mission brought to life on this crowdfunding platform: to empower Muslim women's voices on college campuses. 

Because of you, we launched our first ever #MGScholarship specifically geared towards the most marginalized of groups within our religious community, such as Black, undocumented or refugee women. We delivered thousands of dollars worth of awards to some of the most badass students from around the world that we never met, from NYU to Swarthmore and beyond. 

We’re gearing up for another incredible year and are coming to YOU to help us expand our scholarship fund. And this time, we want to roll out production grants to enable young Muslim women filmmakers, creators, and artists to tell our stories in more new unique and compelling ways. 

Muslim Girl Foundation is our independent non-profit 501(c)(3) corporation, which means all of your donations are tax-exempt. So, show some MG birthday love. 💗

It goes without saying that we believe in the voice and power of Muslim Girls. In a time when Muslim women are increasingly targeted for their religious beliefs and violent hate crimes against them are on a rise, the way we are (mis)represented in the media has a tremendous impact on our livelihoods. One of the most powerful tools we have to combat hate is storytelling.

That's where our scholarship fund comes in. Reclaiming our narrative in the media means eliminating the rampant stereotypes and misconceptions that have hijacked our identities. Muslim women and girls deserve to have their voices amplified as experts of their own experiences. Doing so not only empowers Muslim women and their autonomy on an individual level, but the change also ripples outward against hate, making it more difficult for others to speak on our behalf. We believe that the pen is mightier than the sword, and in the age of social media and the Internet, the keyboard trumps everything.

The #MGScholarship encourages and supports Muslim Girls as they navigate this adversity and important discourse on college campuses across the journey. We select competitive applicants that are embarking on journeys to better themselves, their communities and the world. We’ve carefully crafted these scholarships to capture the realities of a wide set of Muslim women, students and scholars who are often doubly marginalized at the intersection of one or more of their identities. 

Past #MGScholarship judges have included Linda Sarsour, Dr. Kameelah Rashad, Wazina Zondon, and Dalia Mogahed.

Listen, raising $100K isn't light, but it's what we gotta do when we’re up to BIG BIG things. Our last crowdfunding goal was $10K and we witnessed firsthand the life-changing impact it can make. We can only imagine how transformative our plans will be at this level:

#MGSCHOLARSHIP ROUND 2

We want to offer scholarships in larger and more impactful amounts to help young Muslim women in pursuing and achieving their academic goals. Multiple scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $10,000 will ease the financial burdens of marginalized students, some of whom have been estranged from their families or communities due to various compounding factors. These scholarships not only recognize academic excellence, but also support Muslim students regardless of immigration status, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ability, or proximity to any particular Islamic sect.

PRODUCTION GRANTS

We’re super excited about raising money to offer production grants to aspiring filmmakers, creators, and artists to expand their storytelling. By supporting more creative projects, we want to Pass The Mic to more Muslim women in order to tell their stories in unique and compelling ways. Production grants will be awarded to students launching independent projects with various forms of media: podcasts, blogs, zines, start-ups, and beyond. The possibilities are endless and that's kind of the point.

PAID INTERNSHIPS

We know that our Muslim Girls are pursuing diverse industries across the spectrum in college. From media to medicine, policy to public health, art to environmental welfare, and everything in between, we want to place Muslim women in more paid internships where they can acquire the skills they deserve and make the difference they can. By creating such opportunities, more Muslim women can be entering into new spaces and changing our political and social landscape for generations to come. With the support of this crowdfunding campaign, scholarship recipients will be eligible to apply for fully paid internships with a variety of our leading national partners throughout the country.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

We’re not stopping with scholarships. We want all our scholarship recipients to have the ongoing, long-term support, mentorship, and professional development they need to not only survive but to thrive in their academic pursuits. With your help, we will be able to establish cohort meet-ups, workshops and trainings in a meaningful and highly engaging way.

• Equity ― We commit to fair and just treatment of everyone, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, and ability.

• Diversity ―  We welcome people of all backgrounds, regardless of race, background, sexual orientation, sect, ability or immigration status.

• Respect ― We honor and value the dignity of all individuals and communities.

• Accountability ― We hold ourselves accountable to social good and commit to our values in everything we do.

Ten years ago, MuslimGirl.com was born in the bedroom of a teenage girl who was fed up with feeling voiceless in the media. She and her girlfriends made it an afterschool hobby to write on the daily life and experiences of being an American Muslim teenager, in the hopes of connecting with other girls out there who felt the same way. They hoped to dispel stereotypes and build bridges through the spirit of sisterhood by just being themselves. Little did they know, MuslimGirl.com would grow with them as they came of age and literally chronicle the evolution of their identities as Muslim women during one of the most tumultuous times of our modern era. 

MuslimGirl.com has become the biggest English-language platform for Muslim women’s voices online, by and for Muslim women — as it should be. With major partners and projects across different industries from MTV and Teen Vogue to Getty Images, Planned Parenthood, and beyond, MuslimGirl.com has become one of the most visible sources for both Muslim and non-Muslim audiences alike. Wish us happy birthday by donating to the Muslim Girl Foundation today. 💞