Unifying People Through Conversation

Mansoor Shams is a U.S. Marine Veteran, business owner, and Muslim youth leader. He’s also the founder of MuslimMarine.org where he uses his platform of both “Muslim” and “Marine” to counter hate, bigotry, and Islamophoia mainly through education, conversation and dialogue. His tagline for MuslimMarine.org is “unifying people through conversation.” Mansoor served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps, whre he attained the rank of corporal (non-commissioned officer) and received several honors including a meritorious promotion, Marine of the Quarter and Certificate of Commendation. He’s been featured by PBS, NPR, BBC, Voice of America, New York Times, and more, and has made national TV appearances asa. commentator on CNN and MSNBC. Last year he visited 24 states across America with a simple sign, “I’m a Muslim and a US Marine, ask anything” in an effort to start conversations. This year he launched the “29/29 Ramadan initiative” where he teamed up with Veterans for American Ideals during th 29 days of Ramadan to bring US Military Veterans to spend a night at the home of random Muslim families across America in an effort to encourage fellow Americans to get out of their comfort zones and get to know each other. Mansoor holds a master’s degree in governmnet, with an emphasis on national security studies, and an MBA from Johns Hopkins University.