Sameera Shaik

I’m Sameera, a global health graduate student interested in exploring cultural belonging and creating/curating accessible information and experiences.

Empowered by my roots, upbringing, and story, deeply exploring and redefining my cultural identity and community through research and collective programs. I like to build and support communities where people can work to create a sense of fulfillment in their own identity and feel welcome to live healthily and thrive within their community spaces.

A snippet of my story:

During college and moments before, I spent most of my time learning how to be a leader and what it means to connect with community members through service while staying true to myself. While these experiences shaped my leadership development and identity, some parts felt missing as they didn't have a strong connection to my heritage. Near the closing chapter of college, led to reflections beyond my postgraduate plans. It was a moment to acknowledge and find meaning in my disconnection from my cultural identity which left me learning about myself, the underlying causes of stigma, the vision of community care, the power of storytelling, and resiliency.

What began as filling some sort of void by catching up on Indian films during my free time to immediately watching their intense COVID updates, building connections through virtual cultural/healing spaces (e.g. Malikah, MannMukti), and other avenues of cultural community connections, eventually ignited my passion to work at the intersections of culture, community, and health.