Jewher Ilham is a human rights activist who began speaking out about China’s policies toward the Uighur community when her father, a Uighur scholar, was arrested in 2014. She graduated from Indiana University in 2019 and is now working on a documentary about the experiences of Uighur Muslims, called “Static and Noise.”

Darren Byler is professor of international studies at Simon Fraser University. He is expert on the Uyghur Muslim community. His book, Terror Capitalism: Uyghur Dispossession and Masculinity in a Chinese City (Duke University Press, 2021), examines emerging forms of media, infrastructure, economics and politics in the Uyghur homeland in Chinese Central Asia (Ch: Xinjiang).

Michael Sobolik is a fellow in Indo-Pacific studies for the American Foreign Policy Council. He specializes in U.S.-China relations and has written about persecution of Uighur Muslims.

Nury Turkel is the co-founder and chairman of the board for the Uighur Human Rights Project, which works to increase awareness of the plight of Uighur Muslims in China.

Atiya Aftab is an adjunct professor of Middle Eastern studies at Rutgers University. She previously served as chairwoman of the board of trustees of the Islamic Society of Central Jersey and was the first woman to hold this role in New Jersey.

Jihad Turk is the president of Bayan Claremont Islamic Graduate School and a regular commentator on issues affecting the Muslim community in the United States. He previously served as director of religious affairs for the Islamic Center of Southern California, the largest mosque in Los Angeles.

Al Makin is a philosophy professor at Sunan Kalijaga State Islamic University in Indonesia. He researches New Religious Movements with a particular interest in Millah Abraham, a faith group that originated in Indonesia.

Hussein Kesvani is the author of Follow Me, Akhi: The Online World of British Muslims. He is also the Europe editor of MEL Magazine and writes about technology and identity.

Nabil Echchaibi is the associate director of the Center for Media, Religion and Culture at the University of Colorado Boulder. He studies Muslim identity politics, with an emphasis on how online activities affect organized religion.