Somy Ali is an entrepreneur, filmmaker, and tireless advocate for human rights. Occasionally she speaks to South Florida girls who are at risk for dropping out of high school, which causes her to reflect on just how far she herself has traveled.

“I thought it was ironic and strange as I had dropped out but didn’t have guidance at the time,” said Ali, who turned her life around when she enrolled at the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences.

After overcoming personal and cultural obstacles, Ali earned a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2002. And this year she is the college recipient of the 2009 Celebration of Excellence Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, which recognizes alumni at Nova Southeastern University for their business achievements and contributions to the community. 

Ali is the founder and president of her own clothing line, So-Me Designs, whose colorful T-shirt fashions make statements about everything from religious tolerance to world peace. She has produced documentaries about victims of abuse worldwide. She founded No More Tears, a nonprofit organization that focuses on domestic violence. And she visits university campuses to raise student awareness of human-rights issues.

Born in Pakistan, Ali moved to Fort Lauderdale with her family when she was nine. At 16, she dropped out of high school and moved from South Florida to India, where she pursued a career as a model and actress in Hindi films. Eventually, she grew tired of her “superficial” life as an actress. She returned to South Florida and enrolled at NSU.

“I don’t have words to describe what a 180-degree turn I did once I got into the academic life,” Ali said. “I honestly believe that if it hadn’t been for the professors at Nova, I wouldn’t be where I am today. I can’t emphasize enough what a huge impact they had on my life.

“I grew up in a Muslim household where education was not a priority for me. Here, I sat down with these professors and they explained to me that, yes, education is a priority, and just because you are a woman doesn’t mean you are a second-class citizen. I spent hours in their offices just talking and being curious about things.  Once I got there [to NSU], there was no turning back.”

At NSU, Ali was director of community programming for WNSU 88.5 Radio X. She was instrumental in forming the Gay Straight Student Alliance, and she served as a board member of Social Action Social Awareness.  She was the first student staff member groomed to host the on-air, campus radio program called the Information Exchange.

 “She dove right in, and I helped her to come up with topics and issues, identify guests for the program, and then conduct on-air interviews,” said Kate Waites, Ph.D., professor in the Division of Humanities. “She was very conscientious, and it gave her a forum to help shed light on some serious issues at the time. This was shortly after 9/11, and we had frequent shows on terrorism, hatred of and intolerance of Muslims, and the pros and cons of the Iraq war.”

Lena Hall, Ph.D., associate professor in the Division of Social and Behavioral Sciences, remembers Ali as a quiet student who seemed to find her voice while pursuing her studies.

 “She was open to new ideas from those she thought had more world experience than she did at the time,” Hall said. “I believe Somy was determined to grow both academically and personally while she was at Nova. She quietly set that agenda for herself but was gracious enough to give others like myself the credit for her growth.”

After leaving NSU, Ali served as public relations director for the Asian-American Network Against Abuse of Human Rights, where she produced and edited short films. 

Her first short film, I Can Survive, featured the story of Mukhtaran Mai, a Pakistani woman who suffered a gang rape ordered by tribesmen, and later used settlement money provided by the government to open an education center. Ali’s film was shown in August 2005 at an event honoring Mai’s work and attended by Sen. Hillary Clinton.

 “It was perhaps the most significant time of my life,” said Ali, who wrote, produced, edited, and narrated the short film. “Mukhtaran Mai is a true hero.”

Last year, Ali opened So-Me Designs (www.So-MeDesigns.com) whose clothes are inscribed with symbols and messages promoting religious and ethnic tolerance, world peace, and human rights, including a T-shirt with intersecting symbols of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and Hinduism.

She hopes her clothing line will raise awareness of social issues and counter sexist or demeaning messages sometimes found on women’s clothing. (Ten percent of the net profit from So-Me goes toward No More Tears.) “You can intellectualize clothing and make it smart and sexy at the same time,” Ali said. “I know I’m not going to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict with this shirt. But the idea is to raise awareness. At least I will plant the seed in people’s minds that there is a possibility that we’re all alike and that we can share the earth and live in peace. Obviously, the alternative isn’t working.”