Amira Elghawaby

Communications Director The National Council of Canadian Muslims

  • Ottawa ON

Amira Elghawaby leads the NCCM’s media relations, public engagement and strategic communications.

Contact

Social

Biography

Amira Elghawaby obtained an honours degree in Journalism and Law from Carleton University in 2001. Since then, she has worked as both a full-time and freelance journalist, writing and producing stories for a variety of media including CBC Radio, the Ottawa Citizen, the Toronto Star and The Globe and Mail.

In 2012, she joined NCCM as Human Rights Coordinator to advocate for the human rights & civil liberties of diverse communities. In 2015, Amira became NCCM’s Communications Director in which she leads the NCCM’s media relations, public engagement and strategic communications.

Industry Expertise

Media - Broadcast
Media - Print
Philanthropy
Political Organization
Public Policy
Women
Writing and Editing

Areas of Expertise

Ethnic Media & Diversity
Anti-discrimination
Civic Engagement
Human Rights
Civil Rights
Muslims in Canada

Accomplishments

Marisa Ann Golini Award for Investigative Journalism

1999

Awarded by Carleton University

Education

Carleton University

B.A.

Journalism, Law

2001

Activities and Societies: Editor, writer at the Charlatan.

Affiliations

  • The Toronto Star
  • Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
  • New Canadian Media
  • Rabble
  • Muslim Link

Languages

  • English
  • French
  • Arabic

Media Appearances

The People Do Good Stuff Issue: Amira Elghawaby

THIS Magazine  online

2016-01-13

“WHY DO YOU HAVE TO WEAR THAT THING HERE?” “Why don’t you just go back to where you came from?” That these kinds of remarks are ever voiced might seem far-fetched, almost cartoonishly so, but they are actually common enough that many Muslim women in Canada who wear the hijab hear them at some point in their lives—some even routinely.

In this case, it was at a long-term care facility in Ottawa in the mid-2000s. A older man and his ailing sister followed Amira Elghawaby down the hallway, hurling xenophobic comments at her for wearing a headscarf. Elghawaby was visiting her mother, who had multiple sclerosis, something she had done for years without incident. “My mother lived at that hospital. That was like my home … I had so many happy memories in that space,” she says. “I can’t emphasize enough how hurtful it is when it is addressed to you. It really does hurt—a lot.”

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Resilient words, resilient women: New collection highlights voices of immigrants

Rabble  online

2015-12-10

Contributor Amira Elghawaby wrote about becoming a visible minority when she first began to wear hijab. She said the collection captures a diversity of voices.
"There is no one cookie cutter impression of what it looks like [to be Canadian]," she said.
Elghawaby added that the book creates a space for women to talk about intersectional feminism.

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Ottawa police alert Muslim women after reports of verbal abuse

CBC News  online

2015-10-16

Ottawa police are asking Muslims to report "all forms of abuse" after three Muslim women reported being verbally harassed by strangers while wearing a head scarf, including one incident at a polling station.

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Event Appearances

Crime Prevention Ottawa: Speaker Series

“Addressing Hate Crimes: Creating A Safe City for All.”  Ottawa City Hall

2016-11-25

Articles

A women's rights champion is arrested and jailed. What will Canada do?

The Globe and Mail

2016-06-23

The first time I encountered Canadian-Iranian anthropologist Homa Hoodfar was during a small, intimate talk she gave to students at Carleton University.

It was the late 1990s, and she was there to discuss her then-recent book, Between Marriage and the Market: Intimate Politics and Survival in Cairo.

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So who says Muslims can’t be both devout and patriotic?

iPolitics

2016-04-28

Social media was buzzing this week over a new Environics poll of Canadian Muslims. It should have served to dismiss a lot of poisonous misperceptions out there about matters of loyalty and belonging in Muslim communities. Instead, the initial media coverage ended up angering many.

CBC’s original headline acknowledged some of the good news — but somehow still managed to frame the results in a negative light: “Muslim Canadians love Canada, but faith more important to their identity: survey”.

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Can Canada strike proper balance on rights and security?

The Toronto Star

2016-04-25

Public safety is paramount to living in a functioning democracy. It’s why governments around the world are committed to ensuring their citizens are protected from those who would do them harm.

However, in the frightening days following 9/11 and in the years since then western governments have struggled, and at times failed, at both safeguarding public safety and protecting the freedoms they are ostensibly fighting for.

With Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale currently embarking on a sweeping review of national security policy in Canada, and promising to consult with communities and civil society, now is an opportune moment to raise critical issues that have been neglected or bungled for too long.

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