A discussion with CKS alums on how they selected, pursued, and practice their career paths, as part of a series of career-specific panel discussions. Scroll down for registration information.
About our panelists:
Zoha Khalili
Staff attorney, Palestine Legal
Zoha provides legal advice and advocacy support to Palestine rights activists, students and professors on the West Coast on issues ranging from free speech violations, discrimination, threats, surveillance and disciplinary charges.
Zoha's legal career has been devoted to defending the rights of marginalized communities. Before joining Palestine Legal, Zoha fought against housing discrimination and advocated on behalf of people with disabilities, represented immigrants in naturalization and deportation proceedings, and volunteered with the Los Angeles chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, assisting with a variety of civil rights and immigration cases.
Zoha graduated from City of Knowledge in 2004, received a B.S. in Chemistry from UC Berkeley in 2008, and received a J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she was a Harlan Fiske Scholar and managing editor of the Columbia Law Review, in 2013.
Omid Rahnama
Associate, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind Wharton & Garrison LLP (NY)
Omid is a member of the Corporate Restructuring group, where he advises companies, hedge funds, private equity firms, banks, and other clients on all matters related to the restructuring of distressed companies, including filing chapter 11 bankruptcy. Omid likes to think that he saves people (because, you know, corporations are people too).
Omid graduated The George Washington University Law School in Washington, D.C. in 2018.
Prior to law school: Omid graduated CKS in 2007, UCLA in 2011, worked as a legal as assistant from 2011-13, and taught English in Tunisia from 2013-15.
Omid understands he’s not nearly as cool as Zayneb, Zoha, and Isha, but has come to terms with this following many years of inward reflection.
Isha Abdi
Asylum Officer, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS)
Isha is an Asylum officer at USCIS, an agency within the Department of Homeland Security. Isha adjudicates complex and sensitive immigration benefits, asylum applications, other benefit applications managed by the asylum program, including motions to reopen and reconsider, and conducts credible/reasonable fear screenings.
Prior to joining USCIS, Isha briefly practiced as a criminal defense attorney and then as an immigration attorney, focusing primarily on removal defense and family based petitions.
Isha graduated from City of Knowledge in 2004, received her B.A. from UCLA in 2008, and received her J.D. from USC in 2011.
Zayneb Shaikley
Principal, Beyond Advisers
As a member of the lead team at Beyond Advisers, Zayneb works with clients to refine, grow, and scale organizational operations, advising their boards of directors, senior management, and internal enterprise teams on matters related to board governance, employment practices, commercial transactions, issues affecting tax-exempt organizations, and compliance with other applicable regulatory frameworks.
Prior to joining Beyond, Zayneb worked at the Clinton Foundation for ten years, most recently serving as Deputy General Counsel and Assistant Secretary of the Board of Directors. She played a key role in developing and leading the legal department, counseling the Board and senior leadership, establishing successful legal structures and entities in various countries to support the Foundation’s work, and providing strategic and operational guidance to program teams of some of the most dynamic philanthropic and cross-sector programs and partnerships in the world.
Zayneb graduated from City of Knowledge in 2000, received a B.A. from UCLA in 2004, and a J.D. from USC in 2007.
To register:
City of Knowledge students are not required to register for the event. Non-CKS students may register here to receive the Zoom link.