Let's walk the talk: on leaving and leading forward

"SUPERRR hits different, it’s giving solidarity melting pot, the safest work environment I’ve ever come across." – this is how I once described SUPERRR to a friend when they asked me about my work. They were thinking of applying to an open spot.

First things first, I am not paid to write an Odyssee for SUPERRR—this is something I want to do, in fact, I asked to do it.  Because if there’s one thing that defines my love language, it is the alignment of values and actions: I was allowed to dance between the many in-betweens and was always guided by mutual appreciation, trust, care and advice. I’d like to bring that on paper and scream it out to the world – because why not?

After nearly four years at SUPERRR, I can say with certainty: this has been the safest, most enriching and loving workspace I have ever experienced. And when I say safe, I mean it in the most expansive sense—safe in my body, safe in my mind, safe in my ideas, wishes, and desires.

Of course, one could argue that a job is just a job. Lohnarbeit, as we say sweetly in German. But for me, SUPERRR was never just a workplace. It was the rare and precious space where my activist desires and my need to earn a living could coexist, grow, and thrive. 

I started at SUPERRR in May 2021 as a project manager, fresh out of Hertie School and after leaving another project manager position. I was eager to build something meaningful. My first project was the New New Fellowship, a program that brought together brilliant minds despite the challenges of a pandemic-restricted world. But this story isn’t about New New—it’s about what happened after. It’s about what walking the talk truly means (for me).

I have always dreamed of Muslim Futures—a visionary space where art, critical futuring, and community-centered design intersect. A space where Muslim existence is not defined by struggle, but by abundance. When I first shared this idea with Julia, Elisa, Oki, and Nushin (back then), I was met with curiosity, encouragement, and an open invitation to dream out loud.

They didn’t just listen—they made space. They held the weight of what this vision entailed. A radically Muslim and decolonial initiative, one that would inevitably face scrutiny, securitization, and structural barriers. I knew the risks. I had seen them play out before. And yet, at Superrr, my concerns were not dismissed or downplayed. They were understood.

At the end of 2021, we applied for funding—and received it. Muslim Futures was born. I became the project lead, and from that moment on, the vision took root and grew into something that continues to shape the present and script the future beyond the German context.

What made this possible was not just financial support or organizational backing—it was something deeper. Radical trust. In my vision. In my leadership. In the idea that a Muslim-led initiative should truly be Muslim-led. Whenever I needed guidance, resources, or support, Superrr was there. But never to interfere in a controlling manner—only to hold space, to uplift, to share what was needed without imposing. 

At SUPERRR, I worked alongside the only white feminists I have encountered in professional spaces who truly understand intersectional solidarity—not as a slogan, not as an aesthetic, but as a deeply embodied practice.

Julia and Elisa walk the talk of power-sharing. Not just by offering access to networks, knowledge, and funding, but by taking on the labor that too often falls on people like me. They understand that solidarity is not theoretical—it is material. It is about redistributing access, taking risks alongside us, and using their own positions to create actual structural change.

I could tell you stories of other sorts. And maybe I will. Over tea. While I spill the tea. :)

But for now, I will just say this:

SUPERRR was never just a job. It was a place where life and work could coexist. Where personal growth was not seen as a liability, but as something to be nurtured. Whether it was family matters, starting a PhD, becoming a visiting researcher at Yale, or adjusting my hours, I was never met with doubt or resistance. Instead, I was met with trust—the trust that I knew how to navigate these transitions, and that the flexibility I was given, I gave back in full.

Because when care and trust are centered, people don’t just work—they build. They create. They give their best. And with that, I try to center SUPERRR in everything I do, too. By creating connections, bringing in people and communities, thinking of the broader vision when entering alternative spaces.

Leaving SUPERRR is bittersweet. But I am not just leaving—I am stepping into something new. I am in the process of building my own organisation, a space that holds everything I have learned, everything I have been given, and everything I now want to pass forward.

And just like with Muslim Futures, I was able to share this transition openly. There was no secrecy, no fear that my ambitions would be perceived as a betrayal. Instead, I was met with solidarity, with advice, with real, tangible support.
I was empowered to step into leadership, not just permitted.

One of the greatest gifts SUPERRR has given me is a model of leadership that I want to carry forward. A leadership that is grounded in trust, abundance and power-sharing.  A leadership that nurtures without controlling, that believes in people’s capacity to self-determine, that creates structures where care is not a personal favor, but a built-in mechanism. A leadership that manages the good, the bad and the ugly and isn’t afraid to step away, leave and let go.

I have learned what it means to lead while being guided. I have learned what it means to hold space while being held. And I take all of that with me. And the best part is, that leaving the organisation formally, doesn’t mean leaving it completely: we already discussed future collaborations and ways we stay connected. What an ideal scenario that is, isn’t it? 

Not because it is perfect. Not because it has all the answers. But because it dares to ask the right questions, dares to build differently, and dares to trust in the power of abundance.

And that is a lesson I will carry for life. And yes, now I am crying again in gratitude for the wonderful leadership, team and experiences throughout the four years and beyond. Alhamdulillah, for all of this.