Sameer Ladha: nSameer was born in Songea, Tanzania, grew up in London, England, and in New Jersey, USA. He is an attorney by profession, has worked at the United Nations, and in corporate law in the areas of corporate finance, project finance and mergers and acquisitions, in both New York and London. He subsequently pursued an MS in Bioethics, a field where his interests in law, medicine, ethics, public policy and religion converge. He is currently the Associate Director of the graduate program in Bioethics at Columbia University, teaches in the program, and is particularly interested in Islam’s evolving discourse in the field. He is an avid traveler, cyclist and enjoys spending time with his large family.

Salma Jaffer: Salma recieved her BA and BEd from Simon Fraser University in 2002. She started teaching in the Coquitlam School District and had experience teaching Kindergarten to Grade 7. In 2008, Salma moved to the Delta School District and has taught primarily grades 3 and 4. Her areas of speciality are around understanding behaviour and promoting an inquiry based teaching style within the classroom.nnSalma’s teaching philosophy involves creating an atmosphere that is centered around each child’s specific needs, engaging learners by bringing their learning to life and facilitating a space that’s promotes critical and creative thinking in a collaborative setting.nnRecently Salma has taken on leadership positions in her district that allow her to mentor new teachers in the district as well as facilitate collaboration amongst staff in her school. Her hope is to soon go back to university to work towards a Masters Degree in Educational Leadership.nnSalma, along with her 2 colleagues, created a program that worked with North American Madrasah teachers. Together they explored basic teaching strategies and found ways to teach the material in meaningful ways. This program was under the NASIMCO umbrella and was implemented in 11 madaris in North America.nWhen not teaching, planning lessons or thinking about teaching… Salma is busy exploring the beautiful outdoors in true West Coast style with her husband and 3 children.