Rukiya Mohamed

Expert Overview

Rukiya Mohamed is an expert on issues of anti-Black racism, Islamophobia, equity, inclusion, human rights and education.

Rukiya Mohamed is a Somali Black Muslim educator, researcher and consultant. She is currently the Program Coordinator for the first K-12 Centre of Excellence for Black Student Achievement in Canada at the Toronto District School Board.

Rukiya collaborates with system leaders in modelling best practices, facilitates curriculum and educator professional development, co-develops student programming, and supports school improvement tied to understanding and addressing anti-Black racism.

Rukiya is pursuing her PhD at the University of Toronto within the Social Justice Education department and is a researcher at the Centre for Integrative Anti-Racism Studies. She is currently examining the intersections of anti-Muslim racism and anti-Blackness, and opportunities for authentic relationship building that affirm the nuanced identities of Black Muslim youth. Her research interests include highlighting the conditions within pedagogy and educational leadership that support Black Muslim youth along with cultivating environments that reflect the possibilities of Black Muslim empowerment through identities of consciousness and resistance.

As a consultant, Rukiya provides leadership and professional training to build capacity in racial equity literacy, social justice, anti-oppression, anti-Muslim racism, and anti-Black racism within various institutions. She develops programming and resources with various organizations to cultivate conditions for responsive and inclusive school environments. Rukiya also supports research projects rooted in processes, policies and conditions that support Muslim youth construct an identity of resistance and building an understanding of the experiences, histories and identities of Muslim peoples and communities.