OKLAHOMA CITY — Special Agent in Charge Kathryn Peterson of the Oklahoma City Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) awarded Mrs. Aliye Shimi with the FBI Director’s Community Leadership Award. Aliye Shimi serves as the Executive Director of the Interfaith Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry; whose objective is to advocate for the fair and equal treatment of all persons by promoting religious understanding and cooperation by fostering dialogue, mutual respect, and interfaith engagement within the Tulsa community.

Mrs. Shimi regularly provides Muslim cultural competency training to various Oklahoma Police Academies and sworn law enforcement officers via training seminars. Additionally, Mrs. Shimi serves as a lead advocacy member of the Tulsa Commission on Community Policing and an elected leader on the Community Advisors Oversight Committee, where she has advanced a cooperative relationship between law enforcement and ethnic and minority groups through cultural education, advocacy, and ministry.

Within her capacity, Mrs. Shimi participates in quarterly meetings with community and law enforcement leaders including Tulsa Mayor, G.T. Bynum, and Tulsa Police Chief, Chuck Jordan, to discuss current events relevant to the law enforcement community and to advocate and express the concerns on behalf of the Muslim community.

Mrs. Shimi served as an Oklahoma delegate at the “Initiatives for Change Global Assembly”, an international forum in Switzerland that convenes 1,500 chapter members from civil society, government, ministry, and business. The forum aims to build a “just, sustainable, and peaceful world.”

“Aliye Shimi’s long-standing efforts have fostered trust and understanding between the Oklahoma Muslim community and all levels of law enforcement across our state.” Kathryn Peterson, special agent in charge, FBI Oklahoma City Division.

The Director’s Community Leadership Award was established in 1990 by the FBI in an effort to publicly recognize the achievements of individuals and organizations that make extraordinary contributions to the prevention of crime and violence within their community’s.

FBI Director Christopher Wray will formally recognize Aliye Shimi during the official Director’s Community Leadership Award ceremony at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C. in May 2019.