Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment (RISE)

What Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment (RISE) does

RISE is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in September 2015 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, whose stated mission is to amplify the voices of Muslim women through storytelling, leadership development, civic engagement, sexual violence prevention, and anti-racism programming. Its core beneficiaries are Muslim women and girls in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, with secondary audiences including educational institutions, employers, and government agencies that purchase its inclusion trainings and consult on public policy issues such as sexual assault and hate crimes. The organization's product surface is a portfolio of community programs rather than a technology platform: healing circles for sexual violence survivors, an annual Muslim Women's Leadership Conference, coalition-based advocacy campaigns, a storytelling and publishing program (including "Muslim Sheroes of Minnesota" and a 2020 book on anti-Blackness in Muslim communities), and a recent Economic Empowerment Program with a small business incubator aimed at Black Muslim women. Delivery is in-person and facilitator-led, with toolkits, books, and digital content as supporting artifacts.

RISE's revenue model is a hybrid typical of mid-sized U.S. community nonprofits. The dominant stream is institutional philanthropy from more than 20 foundations and government entities, including the McKnight Foundation, Otto Bremer Trust, Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Minnesota, Hennepin County, the Minneapolis Foundation, and the Bush Foundation. A secondary, smaller stream is earned revenue from paid training engagements, with sessions priced in a $150-500 per session range and clients spanning corporations, universities, and government agencies. Individual and faith-community donations round out the funding base. Leadership is concentrated: Nausheena Hussain serves as Executive Director and lead spokesperson, with Asma Nizami leading advocacy and Valerie Shirley leading anti-racism workshop delivery. Geographic operations remain concentrated in the Twin Cities, though content products and recognition (e.g., being named one of 100 Muslim startups to watch) have begun to extend RISE's visibility nationally.

The organization's most consequential institutional outcome to date is its central advocacy role in the 2021 elimination of Minnesota's criminal statute of limitations for sexual assault reporting, a result that materially expanded survivors' access to legal remedy and reinforced RISE's positioning as a policy-relevant community organization. Operational scale, staff count, and audited revenue figures are not disclosed in the available material, which limits granular benchmarking; readers should treat size and financial profile as inferred rather than verified.

Name

Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment (RISE)

Legal name

Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment

Website

https://revivingsisterhood.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

RISE is a Minneapolis-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that amplifies Muslim women's voices in the Twin Cities through storytelling, leadership development, civic engagement, sexual violence prevention, and anti-racism programming, funded by 20+ foundations and paid training engagements.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Advocacy and Social Services

NAICS

Social Advocacy Organizations (81331), Civic and Social Organizations (8134)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAAADAL

Civic Participation & Leadership Development (Voting, Advocacy, Community Leadership)

Education/Adult & Continuing Education/Citizenship & Immigrant Integration Education

Keywords

• Community advocacy
• Civic engagement
• Leadership development
• Women empowerment
• Nonprofit services

Headquarters

HQ city

Minneapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Fundraising: RISE accepts donations through multiple platforms including PayPal, LaunchGood, GiveMN, and Facebook. The organization also accepts stock donations through Saturna Capital.
2. Grant Funding: RISE receives funding from multiple foundation and corporate funders including AAPI Fund, AAOPMN, CAALMN, Minnesota Humanities Center, Hennepin County, Otto Bremer, Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation, Headwaters Foundation, Pillars Fund, McKnight Foundation, Voqal, Andersen Foundation, St. Paul & Minnesota Foundation, WF Fund, Still Ain't Satisfied, Emergent Fund, Proteus Fund, MDMC, Minneapolis Foundation, Tides Foundation, and Minnesota State Arts Board.
3. Training Fees: RISE offers community trainings by request on topics including sexual violence prevention and anti-racism. Suggested donation for anti-racism training ranges between $150-500 per session.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

RISE is a nonprofit organization that empowers Muslim women through storytelling, civic engagement, voter mobilization, leadership development, and advocacy training. It runs community events, workshops, and coalition-based organizing initiatives primarily serving Muslim women in Minnesota and partner organizations seeking cultural and anti-racism training.

Product overview

Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment (RISE) is a nonprofit social change organization that operates as a unified platform offering community programs and resources rather than a technology product. The organization provides a portfolio of interconnected programs including the Muslim Sheroes of Minnesota storytelling project, annual Muslim Women's Leadership Conference, leadership development initiatives, and advocacy resources. Core service areas span civic engagement, economic empowerment, sexual violence prevention, anti-racism training, and community education, with all programs designed to amplify the voice and power of Muslim women in Minnesota.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Storytelling Program A community storytelling initiative that centers Muslim women's narratives, providing platforms for sharing lived experiences and building collective voice. Targeted at Muslim women in Minnesota seeking community connection and visibility.
• Civic Engagement and Voter Mobilization Program A civic engagement initiative that mobilizes Muslim women as voters and civic participants, organizing outreach, voter registration, and get-out-the-vote efforts. Targeted at Muslim women community members in Minnesota; RISE members organized historic voter turnout including in the 2020 election cycle.
• Leadership Development Workshops Training workshops that build leadership skills among Muslim women, delivered with a suggested donation of $150–$500 per participant. Targeted at Muslim women seeking to develop civic and community leadership skills.
• Anti-Racism Workshops Anti-racism and cultural competency training sessions facilitated for organizations and community groups, led by Valerie Shirley. Targeted at local organizations and faith communities seeking culturally informed anti-racism education.

Quantifiable outcome

• Eliminated Minnesota's criminal statute of limitations for reporting sexual assault through four years of advocacy, giving survivors their whole lifetime to report.
• +2 more outcomes

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational civil rights organization for American Muslims. CAIR-Minnesota provides free legal help, hate crime reporting, and advocacy support referenced in RISE's Anti-Hate Crimes Toolkit.
• Black Women's Wealth AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOrganization focused on building economic power for Black women. Kenya McKnight Ahad, founder and president, is featured as a RISE Shero and represents aligned mission work on Black women's economic empowerment.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• USCMO (US Council of Muslim Organizations): National umbrella coalition of American Muslim organizations. RISE is a smaller, mission-specific community organizer; USCMO operates at the federation level on overlapping civic engagement and policy advocacy agendas for Muslim communities.
• CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations): Largest U.S. Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization. RISE references CAIR-Minnesota's legal resources in its Anti-Hate Crimes Toolkit and operates on an intersecting civil-rights agenda at a smaller, community-roots scale.
• MPAC (Muslim Public Affairs Council): Established American Muslim civic engagement and policy organization focused on political participation, leadership development, and advocacy. RISE's Muslim Women's Leadership Conference and civic engagement programs operate a gender-specific analog of MPAC's broader mission.

Direct peers

• Muslim Advocates: National legal advocacy and policy organization advancing rights of Muslims in the U.S. RISE and Muslim Advocates share a faith-rooted, civil-rights framing and engage in policy reform, voter engagement, and anti-hate work at the community level.
• Emgage: Civic engagement organization empowering American Muslim communities through voter mobilization and policy advocacy. Closely aligned with RISE's civic engagement pillar and voter engagement initiatives.
• Karamah: Muslim Women Lawyers for Human Rights: U.S.-based organization focused on empowering Muslim women through leadership, education, and legal advocacy. Direct topical peer — Karamah advances Muslim women's rights at the legal/policy interface, RISE at the community/grassroots interface.
• Black Women's Wealth Alliance: Organization focused on economic empowerment of Black women — a RISE partner whose founder Kenya McKnight Ahad is featured as a RISE Shero. Overlaps on RISE's Economic Empowerment Program and Black Muslim women's economic inclusion work.

Emerging players

• ISPU (Institute for Social Policy and Understanding): Research and policy institute producing data and analysis on American Muslim communities. Adjacent to RISE's work — both shape the evidence base and policy narrative around Muslim women, civic engagement, and community issues.

Regional players

• Islamic Relief USA: U.S. branch of an international Muslim humanitarian organization active in advocacy, relief programming, and community engagement. Comparable as a Muslim-rooted U.S. mission-driven organization, though at much larger scale and humanitarian rather than women-specific focus.

Others

• Pillars Fund: National Muslim-led philanthropic fund — currently a financial partner of RISE — that supports, develops, and convenes Muslim-led nonprofits. Peer as ecosystem organizer rather than direct service competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@revivingsisterhood
• Facebookfacebook.com/revivingsisterhood
• Instagraminstagram.com/revivingsisterhood

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment (RISE)