Anna Hussain is the Group Liaison Manager, and a driving force behind Nisa-Nashim - a national organisation that brings Jewish and Muslim women together to build understanding and friendships across communities. The name Nisa-Nashim comes from the same word, meaning “women” in both Arabic and in Hebrew. It couldn’t be more perfect to encapsulate everything that the organisation does. Through leadership programmes and initiatives, Nisa-Nashim builds bridges across religious and other divides, creating community groups across the country that are co-chaired by Jewish and Muslim women.
The Jewish and Muslim co-chairs range in age from 29-90, and groups exist all over the country, from Manchester, Birmingham, London, Bournemouth and Hull. Like The Multiplier, these groups exist to empower local people - rooted in their community - to take action. The groups themselves range in what they offer - from cooking clubs, to book clubs to lawyer’s alliances - in order to meet the needs of people locally.
Nisa-Nashim also works in partnership with other organisations including refugee and asylum seeker charities, and Anna and her team take an active role in regional conferences to ensure that they are heard in the wider discussions on social issues including gender violence, religion, and global conflicts.
Anna supports the co-chairs of these groups. Her role is crucial in ensuring that Nisa-Nashim is nurturing and supporting new female leaders from both the Jewish and Muslim communities to thrive, as well as giving these women the opportunity to come together in safe and inclusive spaces, against the backdrop of increased hate crime towards minority groups.
Nisa-Nashim resonates with Anna’s own journey. Anna was brought up as an orthodox Jew but converted to Islam 15 years ago. Her life experiences guided her away from Judaism, but after losing her mother four years ago, she began reuniting with her Jewish community for the first time in 30 years - realising that her connection to her community and family grief knew no boundaries.
Anna’s connection to both the Jewish and Muslim communities drives her passion to bring women from both religions together and empower people to push for change in their communities.
She applied for The Multiplier because she wanted to enhance her ability to create grassroots change, connect with other local leaders and continue to build belonging across the UK through Nisa-Nashim. Her work resonated with us. We chose Anna to take part in The Multiplier because we believe that Nisa-Nashim and their work to build bridges across communities plays a hugely important role in supporting people to feel less lonely, more united and that they belong.