Testimonials

“Ru’a relied on her excellent interpersonal skills to connect with people one-on-one and surmount the barriers created by gender, race, religion, nationality and all the other ways we often sort ourselves.

In a challenging urban environment like Civic Center, the type of outreach Ru’a conducted takes dedication, bravery and compassion. What Ru’a accomplished during her short time in Civic Center is inspiring and worthy of award.

The fact that Ru’a happens to be a Muslim woman who wears the hijab, and was conducting these cold-call, in-person interviews during the divisive anti-Muslim, anti-women rhetoric of Donald Trump’s Presidential campaign, made the task all the more challenging. But I never sensed any fear on Ru’a’s part. She politely declined any offer I made to make her look more official, like a badge or branded Civic Center Stories shirt.

The whole situation is an example of Ru’a’s

tenacity, professionalism, and deep respect for others.

She is a wonderfully thoughtful and compassionate person, and it shines through in all the work she completed as my intern. I am certain that Ru’a will excel at anything she tackles and is destined to make the world a better place.”

— Nick Perry | former supervisor at the San Francisco Planning Department; Project Manager at the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority

“...your value system is an important one, you have a genuine interest in the wellbeing of the community you are working with (doing the right thing) and

you have a genuine interest in implementing whatever it is the community prioritizes in the best way possible

(doing it right). I think there are many people in the world who are one or the other, and many fewer who are both. Aiming to do the right thing makes you empathetic, a good communicator, down to earth, someone who cares about context and culture, about enabling opportunities in any way you can.

You do not make assumptions. You do not allow global or funding narratives to prioritize your focus.

Aiming to do things right makes you a researcher, someone who reaches out to resources outside your scope, and not to play the role or look like a reference, but for true learning, it makes you a critical thinker, someone who takes the time to understand the process and to plan accordingly, it makes you someone who has high attention to detail.”

— Dina Batshon | former colleague; Researcher and Practitioner in Youth and Education Development

“Ru'a, you remain one of the best and most pleasant students I have ever worked with.  You have SO MANY strengths that you bring to the table.  You are one of the smartest young people I've taught,

your analytic skills are excellent & you brought such thoughtfulness and energy to your work. 

I still remember and use, the powerful images you put together for your powerpoint in my Human Experience of Place class that juxtaposed two different men sleeping on park benches.  It was an excellent device to get us to thinking about our assumptions about people and unhoused people in particular.  And your final paper at the end was one of the best I've read - very well written and argued.  

In addition, you have such strong social skills; in particular, 

you could talk to anyone and put people at ease; 

you were instrumental in creating a positive sense of community in the class by your openness to others and their ideas, and your willingness to share your own ideas/thoughts.  Your presence in my class was such a positive influence on the group as a whole.

The rigor of your work really kept a high standard for your peers, and in an inviting way that welcomed others to participate and step up. 

To me, this is an invaluable combination of qualities and strengths.  I really cannot say enough about this ability.  And in the US where there are such ignorance/naiveté about and biases against Muslims, I think your way of being and interacting was incredibly important for breaking down barriers. 

— Lynne Manzo | Professor and Environmental Psychologist, Department of Landscape Architecture, University of Washington