For Neda Kikhia what matters most is simple: it’s all about the community.
The University of Denver senior was recently named the 2016 Student Leader of the Year by the Denver Metro Chamber Leadership Foundation and the Boettcher Foundation at the Colorado Leadership Alliance summit in January. With her involvement in Public Achievement, the Pioneer Leadership Program and multiple organizations at DU, on top of completing a double major in communication studies and religious studies with a minor in leadership studies, it’s clear that Kikhia is passionate about investing in her community. She attributes her success to the people around her. “This award means so much more to me than just me winning,” she said. “It really is a community effort.”
We sat down with Kikhia to learn more about her dedication to our community and what inspires her to make an impact.
Taking Care of Business: What community issues drive you as a leader?
Neda Kikhia: I will say that as of now, one of the (issues) that has always driven me boils back down to the first time that I was discriminated against. I remember the first time that I was called a terrorist and all of the destructive kinds of thoughts that came after that. That’s a traumatic thing to be told as an eighth grader, and those kinds of things can shake a lot of your identity. But what I found comfort in is a well-rounded education and a difference in cultures and recognizing that one way of thinking is not necessarily the correct one.
The other side that I am focusing on now is just education on Muslims and how diverse they are and specifically focusing on their American identity and honoring that. I think that it is a total injustice to basically call out one of people’s many identities and just let that identity swallow them, and it totally wipes away any other identities that they have. Hearing stories of successful leaders that maybe are Latina, African-America, Muslim or you know whatever that is. When we hear these stories and the narratives and they’re not always the ones that match terrorists or whatever ugly stereotypes that we have in humanity. When we break those and show the beauty that exists in diversity, I think that is when we start to change a lot of the social injustices.
TCB: Are there any challenges that you have experienced as a leader where you’ve had to change your perspective?
Kikhia: I think the thing that always comes up is how to inspire people to act. I think that purpose and passion and tying that into the work, always having that at the forefront is what really motivates people to keep going. What can we do to make sure that we aren’t getting paralyzed? And that we are always moving forward in some capacity to enact the change that we want to see.
TCB: How has being involved in the community impacted you?
Kikhia: Ultimately it is the power and the ability to build those relationships that has really changed me because everybody that I have encountered, whether that be for better or for worse, has taught me something not only about myself, but about the way that people relate to one another and the power that can come from that.
TCB: What advice would you give someone who wants to get involved in the community?
Kikhia: I think that when we have this passion and we are looking for a way to plug in, there are things along the way that almost touch on some of the deepest, darkest feelings that we may have whether that be vulnerability or lack of belonging or being excluded. Just don’t get discouraged along the way because eventually you will find something great and it will be where you need to be.
TCB: Not only are you a leader, you are also a mentor. How has that affected your influence in changing how youth see different perspectives?
Kikhia: You know I think it’s so funny, I almost say that my students and the people that I work with that consider me a mentor are my mentors. A lot of the times the thoughts and things that they come up with are things that I can’t teach. I think that is beautiful because they create their own change and have their own understandings and I guess it’s through facilitation of comfortable space that they are able to flush those out or talk about them or put them into words. It is just finding people’s passions and working with them to see whatever change that they want to make.
TCB: Where do you see yourself professionally and your community involvement in the future?
Kikhia: I want to be in spaces and on efforts that mean something to people and have the potential to change the quality of people’s lives. I am torn between college access for low-income, first-generation minority youth because getting to college and sustaining through college is extremely difficult when you have a lot more social barriers. The other one more recently has been the education and support that we are providing for our Muslim youth.
I think that this is something that I will fight for and I want to be involved in throughout my life because I see the importance and that impact that can come from inclusion and support and love, and I think this award shows that. What can happen when a community comes together to support people.
Interview conducted and condensed by Laura James, communications and marketing coordinator for the Denver Chamber of Commerce.