Zaineb Abdulla

Zaineb Abdulla has spent her life surrounded by stories. As the hard of hearing daughter of an Iraqi refugee, she was raised with the oral story-telling traditions of the Middle East and the signed narratives passed down to her through the Deaf community. Through this upbringing, it wasn’t long at all before Zaineb began crafting and sharing her own stories.

In 2018, Zaineb established Deaf Defy, a nonprofit dedicated to providing sign language acquisition counseling and audiological care to Deaf children living in refugee camps. Zaineb also serves as the Vice President of Deaf Planet Soul, a US-based organization focused on empowering the Deaf and hard of hearing. Through this work, Zaineb continues to gather and share stories about marginalized communities. 

Zaineb currently lives in Chicago, IL with her cats. In her free time, she enjoys biking, compulsive coffee drinking and mixed martial arts.