Nyla hadn’t been at her job for long before she was told that there was only space for one woman “who looked like her” on the team.
Her employer, one of the largest USAID implementers in the world, was actually filling two positions in the business development division where Nyla would ultimately land a job. The hiring process, her colleagues said, had come down to Nyla and another Muslim woman of color. “But we didn’t need both of you — we just needed one,” Nyla recalls them saying.
Nyla, who asked to use a pseudonym out of fear of retaliation, said comments like this became par for the course. She lost out on one promotion to a white male colleague with less experience and fewer degrees than her. For another senior position, she was told she was not “the right face” for the role. “I have an actual performance review that says ‘You should smile more,’” she said.