OUR STORY
The Smiling Coast Women's Empowerment Network (SCWEN) was founded in 2014 by Kujegi Camara, Isatou Simaga, Fatoumata Waggeh, Hatou Camara, Fatima Janneh, Fatuma Hydara, and Aminata Touray—a group of first-generation Gambian-American Muslim women united by a shared belief that every young person deserves access to opportunity, mentorship, and a community that believes in their potential.
Having grown up navigating the unique challenges of balancing our Gambian heritage with life in New York City, we understood firsthand how transformative education, representation, and guidance could be. Too often, young people in our communities lacked access to mentors who looked like them, understood their experiences, or could help them envision what was possible.
SCWEN was created to help change that.
What began as a grassroots effort to encourage more young women to pursue higher education has grown into a community-driven organization dedicated to expanding educational access, developing future leaders, and strengthening the African diaspora through mentorship, scholarships, professional development, and community engagement.
For more than a decade, SCWEN has connected students with professionals, hosted college and career readiness programs, celebrated academic achievement, and created spaces where women and young people can build confidence, discover new possibilities, and invest in one another's success.
Our Mission
To cultivate a generation of confident leaders by expanding access to education, mentorship, leadership development, and career opportunities for African Muslim women while strengthening communities through service, collaboration, and collective empowerment.
Our Vision
Our values and beliefs are rooted in empowering a community of first-generation African Muslim women to achieve their highest form of self discovery, wellness, and empowerment.
Our vision is guided by:
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Community — We grow stronger by supporting one another.
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Education — Knowledge opens doors and transforms lives.
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Leadership — We empower women to lead with confidence and purpose.
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Service — We believe in giving back and investing in future generations.
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Representation — We celebrate the voices, experiences, and achievements of African Muslim women.
COMMUNITY
Building a network/community of whole Muslim women who are supported through their life journeys in achieving academic, professional, and personal success.
SISTERHOOD
Sisterhood rooted in trust, guidance, confidence, mentorship and giving back to the community & future generations.
EDUCATION
Holistic educational, professional, financial, and personal empowerment, development, and wellness of the whole African, Muslim woman.
OPPORTUNITY
Reduce and eradicate educational, professional, and socio-economic challenges faced by first-generation and immigrant Muslim women. Serve as a resource and facilitate the sharing of opportunities.
Our Values
Our Executive Team
Kujegi Camara
Executive Director
Kujegi Camara is passionate about creating openings for others. Whether through mentoring students, designing leadership programs, cultivating partnerships, or sharing stories through spoken word, her work is rooted in helping people discover their sense of purpose and possibility. Over the past decade, she has worked across higher education and nonprofit organizations to expand educational access, strengthen communities, and connect young people to opportunities that allow them to thrive.
Kujegi currently serves as Assistant Director of Community Engagement and Operations at Fordham University and is the Executive Director of the Smiling Coast Women Empowerment Network (SCWEN), a grassroots organization she co-founded in 2014 to mentor African Muslim women and girls on their journeys to higher education and leadership. A proud Bronx native, daughter of Gambian immigrants, and Princeton University graduate, she believes the most transformative work begins with meaningful relationships and the simple act of reminding others that they belong. Outside of work, she writes and performs spoken word poetry, explores questions of migration and identity through anthropology, and is always looking for new to places to explore in the big apple with her family.
Fatuma Hydara
Deputy Director
After teaching English for 11 years, Fatuma Hydara now works for the New York Public Library as an Associate Manager of the Teen Reading Ambassadors Program, and owns Tuma's Books, an online/popup bookstore specializing in culturally diverse reads. She champions literacy and increasing access to relatable books for young people. She's also a community advocate, supporting work in the Bronx that offers young Africans various opportunities for educational, career, and skill development.
Since 2014, she's founded and helped lead SCWEN as the Finance Director, recently stepping into the Deputy Director role. She attended Pace University - Pleasantville for her undergraduate degree and City College of New York for graduate school, majoring in English Education. Fatuma is an avid reader, a passionate traveler, and a new mom.
Fatima Janneh
Media/Content Director
Fatima Janneh leads SCWEN’s media and content strategy, spearheading the organization’s documentary project and social media presence. Under her direction, SCWEN is telling the story of the Smiling Coast Women Empowerment Network. From the restructured executive board to the inaugural Leadership Fellowship Program, building a visual archive of the community’s growth for years to come.
Outside of SCWEN, Fatima is a registered nurse in New York State, bringing the same discipline and care to her clinical work as she does to storytelling. She’s passionate about creating platforms that center West African women’s voices and achievements.
Fatou Waggeh
Programming Director
A self-identified Gambian-American feminist and proud Gambian-American, Fatou Waggeh is graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and she completed her undergraduate education at New York University (NYU). Currently, she is a Litigation Associate at a corporate law firm. She attributes her academic success to her parents, who emphasized the importance of education from your early age.
Prior to law school, she was a corporate paralegal at a big law firm and a Civic Organizer at an African immigrant rights organization called African Communities Together. As a Civic Organizer, Fatou helped advocate for the unique challenges facing African immigrants on the local and national landscape. She successfully helped mobilize the inclusion of French and Arabic into New York City’s language access plan and coordinated a coalition to combat the refugee ban and the termination of TPS and DACA. Also, she helped organized a number of rallies and protests to combat President Trump’s Muslim Ban and Refugee Ban.
Fatou enjoys her practice as a lawyer and is passionate about social justice, civic engagement and local politics. She is especially committed to "lifting as she climbs" - creating more pathways for the young women from her community.