Darakshan Raja - Chicago

Darakshan Raja is the founding executive director of Muslims for Just Futures (MJF), a grassroots organization that builds power in Muslim communities through collective care, organizing, advocacy, and movement-building.

Raja previously served as a community fellow at Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Social Concern, a board member of South Asian Americans Leading Together, and a research associate at the Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center where she worked to evaluate legal systems' responses to survivors.

Raja was also appointed to the DC Government’s Street Harassment Advisory Committee, a body that oversaw the implementation of DC's Street Harassment Prevention Act.

Currently, she serves on the board of trustees for If: A Foundation for Radical Possibility and is a member of the Nominations Network for the Emergent Fund. Raja holds a MA in Forensic Psychology from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and a Nonprofit Management Executive Certificate from Georgetown University.