Maria Khan – Oakland

Maria Khan (she/her) is the daughter of immigrant farmworkers, who built their community in California in the late 1980s. The various identities Maria holds as a Punjabi, Muslim woman have made her painfully aware of the lack of opportunity and justice in the US for marginalized communities like hers. From a very young age Maria has worked in Food Justice and Education advocacy. This has taken the form of hands-on work such as preparing meals, organizing supply drives, and raising funds, to drafting resolutions, implementing educational policy and lobbying at the local, state and federal level. Maria spent much of her undergraduate career volunteering for various organizations like Sahaba Initiative, working to uplift her community out of poverty and teaching courses to help folks reenter the higher education system. During her time at San Bernardino Valley College, Maria not only graduated with five Associate Degrees but left a lasting impact on her community by playing a key role in the implementation of the Ebook program (now Books+), and laying the groundwork for the campus pantry. After transferring to University of California, Davis, Maria refocused her energy on nurturing and giving back to herself, focusing much of her time on learning holistic healing and applying it to her life. Maria graduated with a Bachelors in Political Science from UC Davis amidst the pandemic, causing her to become deeply involved in food justice and emergency support services for her community in the wake of this global crisis. Outside of her organizing work Maria loves to destress by watching Netflix, knitting, learning new languages and playing board games with her loved ones.