Executive Bios

LEENA BADRUZZAMAN
President
Leena is a woman of many hats – a proud mother of three children, a wife, a nuclear engineer, an insurance professional, and a community leaderLeena was a pioneer in many areas. A physics and mathematics graduate from SUNY Albany, she earned a Masters in Nuclear Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York in 1979, the first woman of Bangladesh origin to do so. Her nearly 20-yr engineering career spanned nuclear power industry, the US Air Force Weapons Lab in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and oil industry consultation. At Air Force Lab, she organized the First Women Professionals Conference in the Air Force.Leena has always been passionate about women’s and family issues. While raising her children, she recognized the unique challenges Bangladeshi women and their families face in a new society, with the children often navigating between two cultures. So in 1998, with support from Bangladeshi women in Southern California, she founded the Bangladesh Women’s Organization of California (BWOC) to provide a forum on the issues and help them bridge that gap. She ran it for nearly 10 years till she moved to the Bay Area.
WAHIDA TONU RASHID
General Secretary
Wahida has been working as an environmentalist and an urban planner for the California Department of Transportation for the past sixteen years. She got a Bachelor's degree in Architecture from B.U.E.T. Bangladesh and a Master's degree in Architecture and Urban Planning from UC Berkekey, California.Wahida believes, that women are the focal point of a family, community, society, institutions or organizations; therefore, empowering women contributes to the betterment of families and communities. Wahida being of Bangladeshi origin wants to participate in the process of helping and empowering Bangladeshi women in the greater Bay Area.Wahida is an artist and a singer. She is also involved in community building and affiliated with many Bay Area philanthropic organizations. She is a promoter/activists of minority rights and women’s rights at work and in her community.
NUZHAT CHOWDHURY
Treasurer
Nuzhat has been working at Bank of America for seventeen years and is currently a VP/ QA Manager for the Bank’s ‘e-commerce’ division.She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics with a minor in Computer Science from California State University, East Bay.‘Women empowering other women’ is a value that Nuzhat identifies with and is the reason for joining BWEN. Nuzhat raised two daughters that she hopes will become independent, thoughtful and courageous leaders in the careers they choose. She believes that spreading awareness of various philanthropic, humanitarian, cultural, and educational activities to other women in our community is the best way to engage and develop our daughters into future leaders. She is excited by the overwhelming support that BWEN has already received, and looks forward to the contribution it can make to the women of our community.In her spare time, Nuzhat likes to spend time with family and friends, cooking and traveling.
B. Z. FIRDOUS
Executive Member
Firdous is a practicing psychiatrist, currently employed at Nassau University Medical Center, in greater Long Island, NY. She obtained her MBBS degree from Mymensingh Medical College Bangladesh and graduated from NUMC’s adult psychiatry program in 2009. Later on, she successfully completed two fellowship programs in psychosomatic medicine and child and adolescent psychiatry.The Bangladeshi community is growing quickly in California as are our social problems. Many of us, especially those who are new to this country, are struggling with acculturation, language barriers, as well as healthcare access. Firdous is passionate about assisting women in her community and helping connect them with valuable resources as she strongly agrees with Kofi Annan that “there is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women”.She enjoys poetry reading, recitation, volunteering, traveling the globe and spending time with family and friends.
ROZINA SAJID
Executive Member
Rozina is an energetic lady whose career has taken her across different fields in different lands. She received a bachelor’s degree from Bogra Women’s College in Bangladesh and completed her graduate diploma in hotel management at the Singapore Hotel and Tourism Education Centre (SHATEC). Following this, she worked at The Pan Pacific Singapore and Hilton Singapore before deciding to venture into the food and beverage industry.In 2010, Rozina set up her own fine dining restaurant in the upscale Bukit Timah district of Singapore, which continues to operate to this day to widespread success.After 14 years in Singapore, Rozina moved to the Bay Area in 2014. The move also saw her shifting her career focus to elderly patient-care.The entrepreneurial-minded Rozina has always charted her own course through life, and this has instilled within her a firm belief in the greater empowerment of women within the Bengali community. She hopes to be a pillar of strength and support for Bengali women in the Bay Area in their times of need.
TANIA HAQUE
Executive Member
Tania Haque is an independent Bookkeeping consultant serving small businesses in the Bay Area. She worked over twelve years in accounting and finance for non-profit, high-tech startup companies including being co-founder of a small semiconductor company and running her own small retail business. She graduated from university of Dhaka with M.com and MBA and earned her master’s degree from GGU.Tania has been living in San Jose over two decades. She always found the time to volunteer for causes that benefits women, children and homelessness with different organization such as school, churches and non-profits.Tania has three children and in her spare times, she enjoys writing fiction. She has published four Bengali novels and one English children’s book. She as well loves traveling, networking, nature photography and instagraming her family cat.