Cham is a Human Rights Activist and nationally recognized poet. Cham is the founder of Climate 4 Sisterhood. An organization dedicated to amplifying the stories of individuals impacted by Climate Change.
Cham graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Double Major in Government and Law and Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies from Lafayette College. Among her more recent accomplishments, she is a 2023 George Wharton Pepper Prize Winner second Black woman in school history, a 2022 Harry S. Truman Scholar second student in school history, a 2022 GLOW Global Fellow, a 2022 Basta Fellow, a 2019 Coca-Cola Scholar, 2019 Princeton Prize in Race Relations and a 2019 Burger King Scholar. She was also a Center for Integrated Teaching and Learning Fellow, a first-generation member of the Tri-Alpha Honor Society, and a member of the Triota Honor Society at Lafayette College.
Cham has long used the intersection between poetry and activism to talk about issues related to environmental injustice, gender inequality, racism, Islamophobia, and other issues she is passionate about. The Bronx, NY native and first-generation Gambian college student arrived at Lafayette as a Coca-Cola Scholar, having been selected for her work in leadership, community service, and positive change made in her community. During her first year, she founded the Lafayette chapter of Girl Up, a club dedicated to spreading awareness about gender equity, and was named a Sadie Nash Fellow for bringing to life a meaningful and ambitious social justice project in the community. She also published Perfectly Imperfect, a book of short poems dedicated to her identity and discussing themes such as the Black experience and activism.
The immeasurable number of clubs, organizations, and charitable causes to which Cham dedicated her time over the past four years exceed the ability to list each one. She became Vice-President of student government in 2022 where she heavily advocated for food equity, menstrual equity and racial justice. She became a McKelvy Scholar in 2020 (of which she is was a co-Internal Chair), and in that year alone, Cham also: was a Lehigh Valley Association of Independent Colleges (LVAIC) Global Student Conference Presenter; became a Dyer Center and Landis Center Fellow; began her present term as a Kaleidoscope Social Justice Peer Educator; began serving as a Student Government governor and member of the Equity and Inclusion committee; joined the Public Relations Muslim Student Association, began her current term as a Gateway Ambassador; served on the Student Life committee; and became a global Gen-Z community member of The Conversationalist and a featured honoree in their Social Impact category.
2021 saw Cham beginning tenures as a Bloomberg Philanthropies intern, a Harvard University PPLC Scholar, a Generation Green Digital Organizing Fellow, and Muslim Student Association President. It was followed up by her 2022 appearance on Apple TV+s Dear…, which was well-documented and celebrated both inside and outside of the Lafayette community.