When she was two years old, Mariam and her family settled in the United States as Iraqi refugees with the assistance of the U.S. government. Mariam says she feels very grateful, and this experience inspires her peacemaking work.

As a seventh grader, Mariam helped her older sister and three other Iraqi American girls to found the nonprofit  Girls-4-Girls, an independent organization with the mission "to educate, empower and provide opportunities to disadvantaged girls around the world.” The group serves girls in Sierra Leone and in the Yezidi community of Iraq. Her work in Girls-4-Girls includes developing and conducting projects, creating advertising by generating digital and paper flyers, and spreading the group’s message via online message platforms.

Their most recent project, Letters of Love, provides the opportunity for American girls to write letters to girls in disadvantaged countries. A monetary donation, collected through their website and local fundraisers, is included with each letter.

With support from contacts in Sierra Leone and in the Yezidi community (the latter through the Free Yezidi Foundation), Girls-4-Girls developed several projects to support girls living in poverty in those areas. They conducted a fund drive to raise monies to donate clothing, books, backpacks, and school supplies to an orphanage in Sierra Leone. They also Skype with the girls in the orphanage and help them learn English. In support of the Yezidi community, they promoted and participated in a candlelight vigil in front of the White House to honor Yezidi lives lost in conflict and war.

On weekends, Mariam volunteers with local organizations such as Food for Neighbors and LINK food pantries, which provide meals to families of students in local schools. She also participated in a Thanksgiving drive to ensure food during the school break and donations for underprivileged students. Mariam says, “During holiday times, not everyone is fortunate enough to celebrate with family and receive gifts and presents. Those who don’t will feel alienated and believe they are the only ones going through such things. We wanted to bridge the gap that these students face and perhaps give them the opportunity to have the things that others expect but they rarely get to experience.”

Mariam says, “We are so grateful for our opportunities, but still our hearts ache for those left behind. Girls-4-Girls is a tribute to the people like us who didn’t have a better chance. We were able to get that chance, so we want to help them.”