EMILY’s List, an organization dedicated to promoting women’s political engagement and women’s rights, honors FCNL Lobbyist for Human Rights and Civil Liberties Yasmine Taeb for her dedicated work to promote social justice.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Washington, DC—In recognition of her activism and advocacy on behalf of refugees and Muslim Americans, the political organization EMILY’s List has selected FCNL Lobbyist for Human Rights and Civil Liberties Yasmine Taeb to receive the 2017 We Are EMILY Award alongside members of Congress, leaders of prominent political and social justice organizations, and other women who have played pivotal roles in the resistance movement against discriminatory and dehumanizing policies.
EMILY’s List will celebrate the We Are EMILY Award honorees at a reception on the evening of Wednesday, May 3rd featuring Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Democratic House Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
Other We Are EMILY Award Honorees include Representative Maxine Waters (D-CA), Representative Gabby Giffords (D-AZ), Center for American Progress President and CEO Neera Tanden, and former head of the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division Vanita Gupta.
“I am incredibly honored to receive this award, and immeasurably humbled to receive it alongside such inspiring women,” Taeb said. “I don’t think of this award as a recognition of work I have already completed, so much as a charge to go out and continue working every day for justice and human rights.”
EMILY’s List based its selection on honorees’ outspokenness and persistence in the face of injustice. The organization states:
“This year, our We Are EMILY Award is being presented to some of the women who have organized, who got loud, who led makeshift legal clinics at airports, million-person rallies across the globe, and who stood up in the halls of Congress and state houses across the country. Accepting on behalf of the millions taking to the streets, the phones, the arenas, and the ballots are some of the women leaders who have demonstrated their fierce commitment to their sisters by being at the forefront of this historic moment.”
Taeb, an experienced lobbyist, directs FCNL’s work on a number of human rights and civil liberties issues, including Islamophobia, refugee resettlement, and repeal of the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force.
A member of the Democratic National Committee, Taeb recognizes the importance of women’s engagement in the political sphere. She has advised and worked on several national and state political campaigns, including President Obama’s reelection campaign in 2012.
Before coming to FCNL, Taeb served as Project Manager at the Center for American Progress (CAP) and co-authored CAP’s Islamophobia report, “Fear, Inc. 2.0: The Islamophobia Network’s Efforts to Manufacture Hate in America.” She has also served as the Government Relations Manager for the Arab American Institute and as a Legislative Fellow for Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA).
Since graduating from the University of Florida with a B.A. in political science, Taeb has earned a J.D. from the Penn State Dickinson School of Law and a Graduate Certificate in International Human Rights Law from Oxford University.
Taeb’s writings and commentaries have appeared in the New York Times, The Washington Post, Newsweek, Miami Herald, The Huffington Post, ThinkProgress, et al.
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The Friends Committee on National Legislation, the oldest registered religious lobby in Washington, is a nonpartisan Quaker lobby in the public interest. FCNL works with a nationwide network of tens of thousands of people from every state in the U.S. to advocate for social and economic justice, peace, and good government.
