Rana Abdelhamid is the child of Egyptian immigrants, a community organizer and 1st Degree Black Belt from Queens, NY. At age 16, after experiencing a hate based attack, Rana founded Malikah, an antiviolence organization addressing hate and gender based violence through self-defense, healing, financial literacy and organizing education. Since then she has taught over 650 self-defense classes and healing workshops, reaching thousands of women in 32 countries across the globe. Today she serves as the Executive Director of Malikah as an Echoing Green fellow.
Highly committed to the global human rights movement, Rana served as one of the youngest Board Members of Amnesty International USA for over six years. Rana co-curated an exhibit at MoMA PS1 featuring the stories of 14 North African immigrant women and the history of Little Egypt, highlighting her dedication to historical preservation and her Astoria community. In 2022, she ran for election to the U.S. House of Representatives in New York's 12th congressional district. Her Justice Democrats backed campaign mobilized thousands of people, received support from over three dozen organizations and elected officials, and raised close to $1 million from small dollar contributions. Currently Rana is leading a coalition of Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) organizations across NYC to advocate and introduce the first-ever MENA data disaggregation bill and leading MENA advocacy efforts for NY small businesses. She’s a co-founder and leader of the NY Muslim Organizing Collective, a base building organization focused on building electoral power for Muslims in NYC.
As a speaker and writer, Rana has given a TED talk with close to 2 million views and has a forthcoming book HOW WE KEEP US SAFE: A WOMEN’S MANIFESTO FOR SELF-DEFENSE AND COLLECTIVE POWER to Madeline Jones at Algonquin Books, by Elias Altman at Massie & McQuilkin (World).
Rana holds a BA in International Politics and Economics from Middlebury College and a Masters degree in Public Policy from the Harvard Kennedy School. A Truman Scholar and a Running Start Rising Political Star, she has received a NYC Council Proclamation and an International Youth Advocate award by the UNA USA Foundation. Rana is on the Forbes' 30 Under 30 list and NY’s Middle Eastern & North African Top 50 by City and State.
