Fairfax County Peace Award 2022

Junior Deema Osman was one of 24 recipients of a 2022 Student Peace Award of Fairfax County honored at a reception on March 13. Deema was recognized for her leadership role in LeadPeace, a NOVA student-led organization with the mission to cultivate youth leaders and peacebuilders. The organization is dedicated to teaching youth the skills needed to carry out their own peacebuilding initiatives.

Deema joined the group in 2020, inspired by the peacemaking passion and the work of her older sister and of a friend who spoke to her about the mission of LeadPeace. In her sophomore year, she was selected to serve as Lead Peace’s branding director. By September of 2021, Deema had been promoted to the position of CEO.

LeadPeace sponsors online lectures and workshops through which students can learn from leaders in the fields of peacemaking, peacekeeping, and conflict resolution. As CEO, Deema ensures that all the program’s activities are on track and run smoothly. She is also responsible for helping to coordinate bimonthly online workshops, lining up motivational speakers, and overseeing the community-issue dialogues posted on LeadPeace social media platforms.

In June of 2020, LeadPeace held a virtual community dialog to examine systemic racism, institutionalized racism, and the Black Lives Matter Movement. Over 100 high-school students from across the U.S. met together online to participate in this event. In preparation for this, the attendees were provided a kit containing the definitions of systemic and institutionalized racism, as well as resource materials designed to educate students and encourage them to initiate peacebuilding activities in their community. The educational resource list included: a guide on how to conduct anti-racist advocacy; a video discussing mass incarceration in the US and the disproportionate incarceration of minorities; and various scholarly articles and Ted talks addressing racial inequality and ways to counter it.

Since joining LeadPeace, Deema has mentored six KAA students to become members of the LeadPeace team and encouraged fellow students to learn leadership and peace building skills as well as conflict resolution to support peace within their own communities.

Beyond her work in LeadPeace, Deema dedicates time to serve her community through volunteer efforts with Islamic Relief USA and the Project Humanity Club at KAA. Her 10th-grade KAA personal project was devoted to helping the Katherine Hanley Family Shelter by making COVID-19 safety baskets for the Shelter’s families.

Deema says that her dedication to the goals and activities of LeadPeace are inspired by the motto, “Be the change you’d like to see in the world and give a voice to the voiceless.” She continues, “LeadPeace has helped me not be afraid to stand up for myself and call people out for any discriminatory remarks they may make. I hope to help people to become aware of their biases and overcome them. I believe that the ignorance that is at the root of social injustice can be rectified through education and example, and that we can all work together to be the change that the world needs.”

Deema aspires to work in the public health field, combining this with her newly learned skills for peacebuilding. Deema says that through the public health field she hopes to continue to encourage social awareness and peacebuilding while making a difference in people’s lives.