Tash talk: Zara

Zara and I met through Desi Rainbow, which is an organization for South Asian queer people and their parents. It’s an amazing organization and I’m glad To be a part of it. I got to meet so many wonderful people like Zara. Zara Ahmed is non-binary Pakistani educator, organizer, and advocate for inclusion and equity in the media industry. Zara had held leadership roles in multiple fields, including documentary filmmaking, youth media, public school education, refugee resettlement, and small business operations. Through all of these experiences, they have cultivated a strong sense of community building, holding space for vulnerable conversations, and utilizing storytelling as a tool for healing. Zara currently works as the Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Manager at BAYCAT, a San Francisco production studio an academy centered on supporting young BIPOC and Queer creatives in navigating barriers to employment in the the film and media industry. Outside of the nonprofit world, Zara is passionate about building intergenerational community within the Queer and Trans South Asian diaspora, and they do so by producing art and food pop ups with their collective Queer Mango.