Kareemah Hanifa

Kareemah Hanifa is a Muslim native from Charleston, South Carolina, but spent most of her life in the state of Georgia. She was sentenced to life imprisonment as a juvenile. During her 26 years of incarceration, Kareemah started her educational journey through Life Universities’ Chillon Project, majoring in psychology through the Positive Human Development and Social Change degree program. She was released from prison in 2019.

Kareemah has advocated alongside Georgia state lawmakers in the fight against felony disenfranchisement and rights restoration. She is currently the lead community organizer with IMAN Atlanta, where she champions the Georgia statewide rights restoration campaign, “No Taxation Without Representation.” She is currently enrolled at Life University in Marietta, Georgia, where she recently completed her B.S. in psychology and intends to immediately pursue her master’s degree in spring 2023.

Kareemah is a board member for the Georgia Coalition for Higher Education in Prison. She also is a ToastMasters Gavel Club member and has given a TEDx talk. Kareemah is focused on building educational equity by utilizing her lived, professional, and academic experience to see a world where all have access to education.