Namira Islam Anani is a network weaver with experience as a lawyer, coach, and graphic designer. As a specialist in the field of human rights education and training, Namira has nearly two decades of experience disrupting patterns that lead to dehumanization. She believes that creativity, connectedness, and cultural wisdom can change how we engage with ourselves and interact with each other. As the founder and principal of Nia Weaving LLC, she weaves connections between people, communities, and movements, holding spaces with intention for more justice and healing in our lineages and for our world.

Namira sits on the Racial Equity Fellowship Design Team for the Detroit Equity Action Lab (DEAL), an initiative of the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at Wayne State University Law School. She holds a professional coaching certification through Coaching for Healing, Justice, and Liberation (CHJL). In 2014, Namira co-founded the Muslim Anti-Racism Collaborative (MuslimARC), a faith-based racial justice organization, where she served in leadership roles for eight years. Namira has lived with chronic pain for over a decade and is a COVID long hauler. Her areas of focus include anti-racism education, leadership development, faith-based organizing, and disability justice.

Namira previously practiced in poverty law in Flint, Michigan. She also worked in prisoners’ rights litigation and international criminal law and war crimes for the United Nations in The Hague, The Netherlands. Her legal background includes research on racism, global education standards, and the UN Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training. 

Namira has served on the boards of several American Muslim organizations and has fundraised and led crowdfunding efforts on behalf of Islamic Relief, charity: water, and other causes, since 2008. She is currently an advisor to her late father’s organization, Diversified Educational Foundation, which invests in Bangladeshi orphans. She is a board member of Dream of Detroit, a community development and neighborhood revitalization organization on the city’s westside, and chairs the Fundraising Committee.

Namira has nearly a decade of experience as a tutor and e-mentor for low-income students. As a graphic designer, Namira specializes in print, with experience in web design, database administration, and back-end support. She has designed for the AFL-CIO and the U.S. Palestinian Community Network and has been freelancing for diverse clients in the United States and abroad since 2007.

Namira was born in Detroit, Michigan to Bangladeshi parents and lives in Waawiiyaatanong (Detroit-side) on Anishinaabe lands. She is an alumna of the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor and the Michigan State University College of Law. In 2010, Namira was awarded the University of Michigan's Tapestry Award for "demonstrating a way of being that contributes to intercultural awareness and relationship building through reflecting the values of social justice, multiculturalism, and diversity." In 2016, she received El-Hibri Foundation’s Young Leader Award for “demonstrating collaborative and inclusive leadership in American Muslim communities.”

Namira has delivered lectures, presentations, and workshops on diversity, community, and justice in the United States and across the globe, including at Harvard Divinity School, CUNY School of Law, and the Minidoka Pilgrimage. She has written for academic journals, publications, and provided commentary and analysis on identity, current events, and social justice movements for radio shows, documentary films, and other media worldwide.