As a Palestinian American, Ryan Musmar has traveled many times to Jordan, Lebanon, and the West Bank, and is dedicated to building connections between people of the Middle East and the United States. Ryan is devoted to advocacy, empowerment, and education in support of his peacemaking work.

In mid-2025, at the end of 11th grade, Ryan founded The Hijrah Initiative to educate immigrants on their rights under United States law. At this time, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was increasing deportations, and Ryan saw this affecting members of the local immigrant community, including close friends. He saw a need to educate immigrants on their rights under U.S. law. Ryan worked with the imam of the North American Islamic Center (NAIF), his local mosque, and local immigration lawyers to organize a workshop for people in congregations of multiple mosques on their legal rights. The workshop was well-received, and Ryan hopes to hold additional sessions in the spring to support immigrant families at risk of unlawful deportation.

Soon after, Ryan worked as a Policy and Advocacy Intern at the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights organization, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). He focused on CAIR’s upcoming Student Ambassador Program, which will train college and high school students in advocacy skills and civil rights education to support their campus communities.

At the Global Citizens Model United Nations Conference in 2025, Ryan was nominated to address more than 1,000 delegates, urging Middle Eastern nations to combat climate change through a coalition enforcing corporate environmental accountability. This annual conference brings together hundreds of high school students from across the globe to participate in a Model UN, engage in discussion, and develop leadership and diplomacy skills.

Ryan also taught English as a second language to refugees in Amman, Jordan at a community center run by a non-profit organization devoted to the support of international migrants and refugees while he was visiting his extended family. Even though he was only 15 at the time, he taught basic survival English to a class of adults ranging in age from 20 to 60 years. He tells us he was inspired by their intense drive to learn and their fervent hope for a peaceful future. This drove Ryan to conduct research and publish a paper on the economy of the Gaza Strip, examining the effects of prolonged conflict and strategies for building a self-sufficient and peaceful future.

After seeing the efforts his students put into their studies, Ryan is motivated to devote the same effort to his. He plans to continue his dedication to peace through college and beyond, with the goal to work either in politics or as a lawyer after graduation.