The Institute for Global Leadership (IGL) honored Dr. Sarah Sayeed, the chair and executive director of the New York City Civic Engagement Commision, as part of its 20th anniversary celebration October 21.

“A community can only be created when people trust one another,” Sayeed said. “For trust to be mutual and solid and foundational, people must believe in each other’s reliability…I was looking around for different approaches to conflict resolution and found the one that Virginia has been teaching with the Institute for Global Leadership.”

Sayeed, who is also a member of the first municipal racial inclusion and equity task force, has dedicated to an inclusive public sphere for the past two decades, according to Virginia Swain, founder of the IGL. Sayeed is a graduate of the IGL training in reconciliation leadership.

IGL was founded by Swain in Worcester in the wake of the 9/11 tragedy. 

“Having been through that experience of being in a war zone for a few days really changed me,” Swain said. “I wondered about the people that go through that every single day throughout the day. We are so lucky that this hasn’t happened except for at Pearl Harbor.” 

She wanted to continue to help people after the terrorist event and bring her leadership position to a new level. Swain added that she didn’t think that retribution was the answer, and that she wanted to find a new way to end disputes before they escalate. Sayeed spoke of remembering immediately becoming victimized and seen as the “other” in fear.

The organization trains practical idealists to become community leaders and build trust in areas that have or currently are experiencing conflict and change. The program was originally developed and implemented at the United Nations over 30 years ago. 

“I realized that a lot of people in the UN did not have the personal or interpersonal skills that are necessary to resolve conflicts at a low level,” Swain said. “I started this leadership there, and I started training people in the UN as well as people outside of it like Sarah Sayeed.”

The organization was founded to provide confidential, compassionate, and skilled guidance as well as consultation and training to leaders and teams. Swain said she wants people from any community, faith tradition, career path, culture, and age to be able to gain leadership and transformative skills.

“As an American Muslim woman,” Sayeed said. “I experienced myself as a container of the conflict in the world around me. America and Islam were being defined as being at odds, and yet, both make me who I am. I knew that I needed to bring these dimensions of me into harmony, and that I wanted to be a peacebuilder.”

Swain said that Sayeed was chosen for her practice of “leadership from the inside out.”

“I think it’s a very difficult challenge for people who are being persecuted against to kind of rise above it and prevail,” Swain said. “But that is what she has done. She has found her inner strength.”

Sayeed has expanded reconciliation leadership.

Sayeed was appointed by New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to the Civic Engagement Commision. She was previously a senior advisor on muslim engagement in the Mayor’s office. Her public service though extends from grassroot experiences with the Interfaith Center of New York and Women in Islam, Inc. 

“Both of them were two new posts instituted by the Mayor of New York,” Swain said. “She’s been a remarkable leader in the City of New York and beyond. She’s a spokesperson for many many groups, and she’s worked around the world.”

Sayeed has worked to engage and bring the different communities in New York together. She even has a bus that goes to each area and talks with the people to find the political will of New York, which Swain said is necessary to create a new, overarching political sphere in the nation.

“Her focus has been on New York and I think that focus has brought a new understanding to how you can resolve things peacefully,” Swain said. “Her mission has been to get all of the different communities of New York together…We have to build trust throughout all of the sectors.”

Sayeed also has written papers on reconciliation leadership, and she co-authored for conferences convened by the Human Dignity and Humiliation Studies at Columbia University.

Sayeed was presented with a Key to the City of Worcester made by the technical high school by Mayor Joe Petty.

“You have shared the importance of empathy and faith,” Petty said. “In recognition of generous citizenship and your work to grow an outstanding community and your belief in civic engagement it seems very fitting for you to receive our highest honor. It is my pleasure to present you with the key to the City of Worcester.”

Congratulatory notes came from Gladys Rodriguez-Park on behalf of  Congressman Jim McGovern and Senator Ed Markey.

“Doctor Sarah Sayeed has displayed what it truly means to lead from the inside out,” Rodriguez-Park said. “She has proven that love is stronger than hate, rejecting attempts to try to divide our country and wrongly imply that Islam is un-American. For Dr. Sayeed to such an effective bridge builder and peacemaker in the face of such challenges is an inspiration to us all and a lesson in what makes a great American.”

The event also marked the start of a new coalition to build trusting communities in Worcester and across the country. The next monthly meeting is November 1, and to learn more go to viriginaswain.com/upcoming-events.