Ayeda Ali
Ayeda Ali, a Miami native, grew-up with hard-working parents who immigrated to the United States from Palestine. Her parents are small-business owners owning a series of convenient stores in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Ayeda’s mother instilled in her a heart for philanthropy, taking her and her siblings to distribute food and household goods to underprivileged families in Miami. Ayeda carries on the tradition of philanthropy with force and a big heart here in Coastal Georgia.
Ayeda’s multicultural upbringing gave her pride growing up in a diverse-melting pot. She is fluent in three languages: English, Arabic, and Spanish. As a Palestiantian First Generation American, Ayeda knows the challenges of non-speaking immigrants and U.S. Citizens. She established programs to assist non-speaking families to settle in Coastal Georgia. Essentially, since 2005, Ayeda supports and personally assists displaced new refugees and U.S. citizens to establish apartments, buy new items i.e. household items, common goods, and primarily translate for many Coastal Georgia Organizations. She is called upon by many local shelters to distribute donations to displaced refugees, while acclimating and harmonizing to calling the beautiful Georgia Coast, Home. Ultimately, according to Ayeda, she helps. “Families start a new life here in Coastal Georgia.”
Married to her husband, Robert of 19 years, they both have two boys together, Omar and Adam, in Savannah, Georgia. Ayeda is a former pediatrics nurse turned stay-at-home “PTA-Sports traveling mom.” Ayeda gained the attention of women in Atlanta-Metro with her current and previous work in Savannah, and Coastal Georgia. She has spent over 15 years in community engagement, civic work, volunteering, public speaking, change management, and people skills to unite individuals towards positive change. Her interest is contributing to the lives and well-being of people in Coastal Georgia.
In Savannah, Ayeda’s keen philanthropic work began when the Savannah Islamic Center burned, demolished by arson in 2003. Community leaders with Ayeda’s help and her husband’s family raised money to rebuild the Center in 2007. She remembers the transition, operating out of a on-site mobile home trailer to having a full structure, and overseeing the creation of a huge beautiful Center today. She worked with a wealth of amazing resilient-community members who are doctors, surgeons, pediatricians, lawyers, dentists, professionals, philanthropists, activists, entrepreneurs, businesswoman and everyday women in Savannah’s Islamic Community.
Ayeda, with her two boys, give back to local shelters, like safe shelter, union mission, the Ronald McDonald House and various philanthropies around the holidays.
However, primarily, her main focus has been on the local public school system. Ayeda is involved in many parent-teacher advocacy groups, and nonprofits. Ayeda contributes her personal time through leading personal financed fundraiser initiatives for local public schools. As a PTA leader, activist and advocate she became personally educated on how public schools are funded to familiarize herself on how the local government operates and distributes funds for projects. She has donated funds towards new carpets and other needed items requested by teachers. Ayeda organized and leads the Annual Teacher Appreciation Week in the Savannah local public school district. Ayeda is happy to bring in meals for teachers, just to see a smile on their face.
Also, while admiring the work of the Governor’s Wife, Marti Kemp, Ayeda became aware of the issues of human trafficking, and her stance on helping to stand up for Women of the State of Georgia. Ayeda wants to help Georgia families’ first to be vigilant about healthcare and safety for women throughout Georgia for all diverse-ethnic non-english language speaking communities. Ayeda is vigilant to educate and activate women in latin, middleeastern, and arab communities ursing her ehtinic background and multiverse spoken languages on prevlanent issues in Georgia like human trafficking, which is happening right here in the Low Country. Secondly, Ayeda targets Womens’ healthcare prevention for osteoporosis and direct labor in Georgia.
Issues Ayeda is passionate about is advocating for women, combatting human trafficking and women’s health in Georgia.Statistically the mortality rate of Georgia’s women is actually higher throughout in the State for women in diverse-ethnic non-english language speaking communities. Ayeda says, Georgia has to face hard facts, “most non-english language speaking communities need to be educated on safety and preventive healthcare to help women succeed.” Ayeda will utilize her position to establish outreach programs in middleeastern, arab, and hispanic (non-english speaking) communities to engage their skill-sets to advance women throughout Georgia to secure safety and promote preventive healthcare to fight human-trafficking, osteoporosis and direct labor in Georgia
Active in serving her community through political and civic work, Ayeda is focused on ensuring equality to those who wish to run for public office. Ayeda thrives on Get Out the Vote and Voter activism in Savannah, especially in the Islamic Community. She attests, “our community on both sides are very ambitious, and want to get members registered to vote to make a difference in teaching members of the Islamic Community to stand-up and be heard.”
Ayeda’s is grounded in the belief, “how you do business is as important as what you achieve.” In 2017, she founded a modest clothing line based in India, sourcing eco-friendly materials and hiring underprivileged mothers overseas. She is proud of her heritage and wishes to continue her clothing line reflecting her family’s roots and traditions while helping women around the world. She firmly believes in conducting smart advocacy and analysis, in order to achieve meaningful results.