firas is a founding member of cultivate strategies. they are a queer, genderqueer, arab activist and organizer. In the wake of the pulse nightclub shooting, firas founded werk for peace, a queer and trans grassroots movement that uses all forms of dance to promote peace. You may have seen them twerking on a car in front of mike pence's house or ivanka trump's house. werk has gone viral and has been featured in the washington post, bbc, cnn, vice, buzzfeed, huffington post, time, reuters, ap, cspan, nowthis, npr, newsweek, and more.

While firas is best known for their dance activism, they have also worked within the womxn’s rights, environmental justice, anti-trafficking, police and criminal justice reform, gun violence prevention, immigrant and refugee rights, sex workers rights, reproductive justice, and sexual violence prevention spaces.

firas was an independent scholar in human rights at middlebury college in vermont and also studied as a visiting student at columbia university in new york. later, they completed a full-stack web development bootcamp at the george washington university.

firas' passion for design and development emerges from wanting to create a world where the intersectional, sustainable, and creative work of the movement can be reflected in the digital space.

now back in the washington, dc area where they grew up, you can find firas meditating or coding at a local dc cafe or in their car taking a road trip to fill the weekend with exploration. firas is inspired by snow-covered, deep green grass; the sound of a heartbeat; a perfectly brewed cup of green tea; modern art; self and community care practices; effective communication skills; and emotional intelligence.