Title: Senior Associate General Counsel
Organization: 
Area of Expertise:  Law & Civil Rights, Women's issues, Youth issues
Media Experience: TV, Print, Radio, The New York Times, New York 1 Television Station. National Public Radio

Location: Maplewood, NJ
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Khadijah Sharif-Drinkard is an attorney, writer, lecturer and community activist.  She has written for The Muslim Journal Newspaper for the past seventeen years where she has covered stories of import for Muslim Americans. In 1990, Sharif-Drinkard was named the Outstanding Muslim Youth of the Year for the then Muslim American Society. She has traveled both nationally and internationally speaking to students, politicians, interfaith organizations, corporate heads and marginalized communities. Sharif-Drinkard has committed herself to giving back by mentoring young people and working in the area of human development.  During her travels, she has addressed audiences in the townships of Soweto, Pretoria and Capetown, South Africa while serving on Mayor David Dinkins’ delegation where she represented the youth of New York City in 1991.  During her time in South Africa Sharif-Drinkard was the guest of Nelson and Winnie Mandela. 

In 1992, she was chosen by the United Nations as a youth ambassador to Russia.  Her task was to analyze the social, political, economic, cultural and environmental challenges of a country undergoing democratization.  Upon her return to the United States, Sharif-Drinkard shared her experiences abroad with diverse organizations in an effort to educate Americans about the challenges facing Russia.  In 1995, Sharif-Drinkard found herself traveling abroad again, this time as a Representative for Muslim American women to the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing, China.  As a Representative, she had the opportunity to work with various women from around the world as well as the Women of Color Caucus where she served on the document committee and contributed by working on the Platform for Action.

In 2002, she threw her hat into the ring and ran for public office.  While she did not win a seat on the Township Committee of Maplewood, she made a phenomenal showing losing by a mere three hundred votes.  Sharif-Drinkard has been featured as a young political activist on several television programs and has been spotlighted in the New York Times on more than one occasion.  In 2005, she was a contributing author to the book Living Islam Out Loud: American Muslim Women Speak (Beacon Press) where she writes about her journey as an African American Muslim.  In 2006, Sharif-Drinkard served on the United States Delegation to the Iraqi-U.S. Women’s Summit held at the United Nations and later during the same year she was an invited guest of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs to attend a conference in Birmingham, UK where she represented the concerns of African American Muslims.  Until recently, Sharif-Drinkard served as Vice President, Senior Counsel for MTV Networks where she specialized in entertainment law.  During her tenure at MTV Networks she served as facilitator for MTV Networks’ Business and Legal Affairs Diversity Council where she worked tirelessly to create innovative and inclusive programs for underrepresented religious and racial groups. 

Sharif-Drinkard holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science from Columbia University and a Juris Doctor from Fordham University School of Law.  She lives with her husband Craig and daughters Jalsa and Madinah in Maplewood, New Jersey.