Iman is a Pakistani-American eldest daughter of immigrants, and the first “American” in her family. Born in upstate-New York in a pre-9/11 United States to students whose visas were nearing expiration, Iman and her family returned to Pakistan, where she lived with her younger sister and parents for the next few years. In 2006, they returned to the US, moving to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where she spent the majority of her schooling. Iman’s passion for social justice is informed by her longing for community and belonging, which led her to the local organizing scene in Chattanooga. This involvement uplifted some pivotal opportunities that later guided and inspired her academic and organizing journey, like getting to hear bell hooks share her experience in social justice work in a conversation with Gloria Steinem at Spelman University during her junior year of high school. 

During college, Iman majored in Women Gender Studies with a focus in African-American Studies where she studied hegemonic power, intersectional power, and theory and praxis of transformative justice. Following undergrad, she worked alongside fellow AAPI organizers as the Development and Events Coordinator at an AAPI nonprofit in Georgia. Building on her experience within the immigrant-justice space, Iman joined Sur Legal Collaborative in 2023 and is currently leading our Development Program within her role as our Development & Growth Strategist.