Enabled by Faith: Sara Minkara appointed U.S. special adviser
“I’m blind and I’m proud of it.”
By virtue of her supportive family, tenacious spirit, and steadfast faith, Sara Minkara, the nation’s new U.S. special adviser on international disability rights, has established a life of empowerment and successful entrepreneurship. She is the founder of the nonprofit Empowerment Through Integration and Sara Minkara LLC, both of which offer direction for disability inclusion and education.
Having lost her sight at age seven and being a first-generation American-Muslim, Minkara, possesses a unique perspectives and insight that has been heard around the world. She says losing her sight has impacted her faith, inspiring a passion to empower people with disabilities.
Her nonprofit’s mission is to “disrupt the narrative surrounding disability,” according to the White House, and empower young people with disabilities.
“One-seventh of our world’s population—1 billion people—are people with disabilities. And if we are not thinking about that community when we’re talking about foreign policy and policy in general, that means we’re really ignoring 1/7th of our world population,” Minkara believes.
She will be positioned at the State Department and will be tasked with leading the U.S. strategy to promote and protect the rights of people with disabilities internationally and across the department, according to a White House news release.