11 फ़रवरी, 2026
We recently asked the Muslim Community Network (MCN), an NYC Votes community partner, to share more about the organization's work and the communities they serve across New York City. Ruksana Ruhee, a Civic Engagement Fellow, highlighted MCN's work to advance equity, leadership, and civic engagement while addressing the everyday challenges facing Muslim, immigrant, and marginalized New Yorkers. Learn more about their work in this Q&A.
Tell us a bit about MCN, the people you work with, and the issues that matter most in their day-to-day lives in NYC.
MCN is dedicated to redefining and strengthening the Muslim experience in the United States through community education, civic engagement, leadership development, and advocacy. Our work is rooted in advancing equity, dignity, and belonging for communities that are often marginalized or under-resourced.
MCN's core programs include youth leadership development, women's programming, hate crime prevention, diversity and interfaith education, immigrant rights workshops, and community case management that connects individuals and families to critical social services such as childcare and other supports. We also host monthly soup kitchens, conduct voter registration and civic education workshops, and engage in ongoing interfaith and coalition-based work across New York City.
We serve a broad and diverse community - people of all faiths, backgrounds, and identities - while centering the intersectional Muslim community across racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic lines.
Many of the individuals we work with face systemic barriers related to immigration status, income inequality, language access, and discrimination. The issues that most impact their daily lives include housing affordability, access to social services, public safety, education, economic stability, and the ability to meaningfully participate in civic life. MCN envisions a future where diverse communities are empowered to collectively advocate for justice, peace, and inclusivity, and where mutual understanding and accountability are the norm.
How does your community experience the city, and how does MCN help them navigate or shape those experiences?
There is no single way our communities experience New York City. For many, daily life is defined by balancing demanding work schedules, caregiving responsibilities, and the rising cost of living while trying to maintain strong family and community ties. These pressures are often compounded by systemic inequities, discrimination, and policies that create fear and instability, particularly for immigrant, Muslim, and other marginalized communities.
MCN helps community members navigate and shape their experiences of the city by creating pathways to safety, inclusion, and empowerment. Through our programming, we equip individuals with practical tools such as financial, digital, and civic literacy; provide know-your-rights education through immigrant rights workshops; and offer hate crime prevention and diversity education to promote safety, understanding, and accountability. Our youth and women's programs create leadership pipelines and affirm spaces where participants can build skills, voice concerns, and actively shape their schools, neighborhoods, and communities. Through case management, we help individuals navigate city systems by connecting them to housing support, utilities assistance, immigration services, and public benefits in coordination with city agencies.
Across all of our work, MCN strengthens the city's social fabric by fostering collective care, civic participation, and cross-community collaboration, ensuring that New York City is safer, more inclusive, and more responsive to the people who call it home.
How do your community members participate in the city in terms of voting, speaking up, or staying informed?
Community members are deeply engaged in civic life and are eager to participate in shaping their city. Many actively vote, attend voter registration drives, and seek information about upcoming elections, candidates, and ballot initiatives. Even among those who are not eligible to vote - due to immigration status or other legal barriers - there is a strong desire to stay informed and to contribute meaningfully to the well-being of their communities.
Barriers such as long work hours, caregiving responsibilities, language access, and limited outreach in marginalized neighborhoods often make civic participation more difficult, not less important. Despite these challenges, community members regularly vocalize their concerns through places of worship, community gatherings, mutual aid efforts, and local organizing. MCN has facilitated voter registration and civic education in and around mosques, where community members organically share critical information about voting timelines, eligibility, and civic processes.
Many also stay informed through trusted community networks, including WhatsApp group chats, social media platforms, and word of mouth.
Civic engagement takes many forms beyond voting, including volunteering, mutual aid, and collective care such as preparing meals, sharing resources, and supporting neighbors.
These actions reflect a strong commitment to community responsibility and civic participation, even when formal avenues are inaccessible.
What questions or challenges do people most often have about voting or engaging with the city, and where do you see the biggest information gaps?
Some of the most common questions and challenges relate to eligibility, particularly for individuals with prior involvement in the criminal legal system or those who are not yet U.S. citizens, including green card holders and people with other immigration statuses. Many are unsure of their rights or believe they are permanently excluded from civic participation, even when that is not the case. The largest information gaps exist in low-income and marginalized communities, particularly within BIPOC communities. Many residents lack access to clear, culturally responsive, and multilingual information about elections, candidates, and voting processes. These gaps are especially pronounced among young people, who often receive less targeted civic education than older generations.
There is also a significant lack of accessible information about how to engage with the city beyond voting, such as understanding who local elected officials are, what their specific roles and responsibilities entail, and how constituents can effectively contact them, advocate for their needs, or hold them accountable at the local, state, and federal levels. Closing these gaps is essential to ensuring equitable civic participation and a more responsive city government.
How has working with NYC Votes fit into MCN's work so far, and what makes their support useful or meaningful for your community?
Working with NYC Votes has extended MCN's civic engagement and voter education efforts. The resources, tools, and nonpartisan information have strengthened our ability to provide accurate, accessible, and culturally responsive civic education to communities that are often underrepresented or excluded from traditional outreach. For instance, they have resources to engage voters about election dates/times, where to locate their poll sites, how to vote, what's on the ballot, and even why to vote (underlining the different duties of local, state, and federal officials), all accessible in a digestible manner. This website can also be translated in a variety of languages, such as Bengali, Urdu, Arabic, French, and many other languages, useful to our communities that we serve.
NYC Votes' support is especially meaningful because it helps reduce barriers to participation by offering clear guidance on voter registration, election timelines, and ballot information in ways that meet people where they are. Through this partnership, MCN has been better equipped to empower community members regardless of voting eligibility to stay informed, engaged, and connected to the democratic process, reinforcing a more inclusive and accountable civic culture across New York City. 
For more information on MCN and their mission, programming, and community initiatives, visit their website.