About the founders
MPSN began in 1994 as the first intern sponsorship program for Muslims in Washington, DC Originally named MSN ("Muslim Student Network"), it was founded by Marghoob and Iffat Quraishi, two American Muslim pioneers who had a reputation for working creatively and effectively with American Muslim youth.
Marghoob Quraishi
Marghoob Quraishi was a Muslim activist and international policy thinker who came of age in the last years of the British Empire in India. He was a graduate of the Stanford School of Business ('59), President and CEO of his own consulting company, and of a public company with branches in New York, Boston, London and Paris.
But his working hours always included a large chunk of time dedicated to Muslim institutions — serving on the Advisory Board of the First Islamic Bank in Luxembourg, and founding Muslim American organizations like the Stanford Islamic Society, the American Muslim Association for Businessmen and Professionals, and the Strategic Research Foundation, an early Muslim American think tank.
Renae Iffat Quraishi
Renae Iffat Quraishi, the first in her working class American family to go to college (Willamette and San Jose State University), was a public school teacher and social justice activist of the 1950s civil rights movement. She brought her unique creativity, optimism, and persistence to the growing California Muslim community when she and Marghoob married.
"Mr. and Mrs. Q," as they are affectionately known to MPSN alumni, together built many innovative American Muslim institutions such as the Muslim Youth Camp of California, The Stanford Islamic School, Talibah House (Muslim residence for women at UC Berkeley), and the Muslim Public Service Network.
