What is SEMAH?

Safety, Education, Mutual Respect, Awareness and Hope

SEMAH stands for the principles of Safety, Education, Mutual Respect, Awareness and Hope. We believe that these principles are crucial towards building healthy relationships with oneself, between individuals, families and communities. We were founded, in 2005, primarily to help combat the scourge of domestic violence and to spread awareness of non-violent means of resolving differences.

The word SEMAH seems to have a significant meaning in many languages. It is derived from the Arabic root letters s, m, h which stand for tolerance and most importantly acceptance. SEMAH means seed or sprout in ancient Hebrew, sacred plant in the Ojibwe Native American Language, equality in Sanskrit and the state of ultimate connection with the divine in Turkish. The universality of the name SEMAH and its principles inspired us to reach out to members of the diverse Bay Area and International community to find ways to work together to address the shared evil of domestic violence and to build hope for a vibrant and wholesome community.

Our Mission

Our mission is the promotion of healthier relationships and prevention of domestic violence through education and awareness of options. We want to be a conduit for resources to empower and enable victims and perpetrators to finally find a way out of the vicious circle of abuse. We will work with communities not well served with a special focus on the Muslim and inter-faith communities.

SEMAH has participated in inter-faith Faith in Violence Free Families ("FIVFF"), Building Partnerships for Change project since 2004. This is an inter-faith collaborative program to address issues of domestic violence in the faith communities. Click to read more

Our Board Members

Our Board is comprised of active community members with general interest in prevention of domestic violence as well as specialists in the field of psychology and marriage and family counseling. SEMAH's advocates receive, at a minimum 40 hours of training in domestic violence prevention.

Reshma Inamdar — Chair and SEMAH Co-Founder, community activist and business consultant. Ms. Inamdar has an MBA in Finance and is active in local, state and national organizations. She passionately believes that breaking the cycle of violence through education and teaching healthy conflict resolution skills, especially to youth, will help to bring about a more peaceful community.

Razia Inamdar — SEMAH Co-Founder, Educator Mrs. Inamdar has worked for over twenty years in the teaching field and continues to do so even after retirement. She has witnessed much abuse over the course of her lifetime, especially of vulnerable women and children. She is dedicated to alleviating this problem and has helped several people in and out of her capacity as Board member of SEMAH.

Amna Jaffer — SEMAH Co-Founder, MA, TEP., has been involved in the prevention of domestic violence since 1992 when she received training to answer hotline calls and conduct intake assessments at a battered women’s shelter in Kansas City.
Ms. Jaffer obtained a certification as a Practitioner of Psychodrama in 2000 and then in 2007 was certified as a Trainer, Educator and Practitioner of Psychodrama. The last four years Ms. Jaffer has worked part time with Moreno Institute West (MIW) – training and teaching organization - that specializes in the use of Psychodrama and Group Psychotherapy. Presently MIW is pioneering a pilot conflict management program using action methods.
She is currently a member of American Counseling Association, American Society of Group Psychotherapy and Psychodrama and of American Association of University Women. Ms. Jaffer completed her MA in Education from San Jose State University in 1997 and is employed there as part-time faculty in the Counseling Department.

Ayse Yesilyurt — Director and Chair of SEMAH Annual Essay Contest Program, Ph.D. SEMAH Board and SBIA Sisters Committee member.

Vada Pinto — Director and Marriage and Family Therapist. SEMAH has benefited greatly from her long term expertise and insights.

Dr. S. Rubina Inamdar — Director, is a physician/educator living in Sacramento. She has a strong interest in gender health, public policy, and prevention of illness.

Tiffany Plummer — Interm ED/Staff – Tiffany joined SEMAH recently and currently provides coordination of the website development and information project. She is also a strong advocate for financial literacy, especially for women.

Advisory Board

Nasira Sharieff — SEMAH Co-Founder, Trustee San Ramon Islamic Center, Sister Nasira Sharieff is the Director of the SRVIC Islamic School. She also completed a Masters degree in Economics from the University of Cologne in West Germany. She has teaching credentials from the California State University at Hayward and a Post Graduate degree in Child Development from Mills College in Oakland. She was an Associate Professor of Education at Cal State Hayward where she trained student teachers for six years.

Dr. Khalid Siddiqi — Imam, Family Counseling

Arzina Ali — SEMAH Co-Founder, Educator