Building Tolerance

Spurred by 9/11, this entrepreneur helps workplaces embrace diversity.

Entrepreneur magazine - July 2005

KERRI FIVECOAT- CAMPBELL

Mahnaz Shabbir was horrified by the terrorist attacks of 9/11. And as an American Muslim, she was saddened when some Muslims became victims of discrimination at work. So in 2003, Shabbir, 46, quit her job with a large health-care system to open Overland Park, Kansas-based Shabbir Advisors, a consulting firm whose main goal is ensuring that U.S. workers understand that tolerance and diversity are about more than skin color.

Shabbir conducts seminars and also does strategic and marketing planning for corporate clients, including universities, health-care systems and the military Command & General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. "There's a lot of misinformation about other religions and cultures," she says. She projects her sales to double in 2005.

Shabbir's next projects include co-authoring a book about interfaith relationships and producing a documentary to promote peace and tolerance.