ABOUT THE INITIATIVE

Rise Beyond Margins is a community-powered academic initiative rooted in the belief that scholarship should not be constrained by financial barriers, institutional affiliation, or unequal access to opportunity. To 'rise beyond margins' is to help ensure that important ideas, scholars, and communities whose experiences enrich our understanding of the world are not left behind. Through research, teaching, writing, and public engagement, this initiative seeks to advance more inclusive scholarship while building bridges between academia, policy, and practice.

When scholars are able to continue their work, the benefits extend far beyond one individual. Communities gain new knowledge, students stay connected to diverse perspectives, and public conversations become richer through research that may never reach the world.

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Dear Friends, Colleagues, Family, and All,

My name is Dr. Elsa T. Khwaja, and I am an independent public policy scholar, writer, consultant, advocate, and artist.

I began this community-powered academic initiative in July 2025, precisely one year ago, to help sustain a crucial phase in my research, resilience, and academic journey, while serving as a bridge to my next academic opportunity or posting.

With the support of family and friends, I was able to successfully attend and present three papers on important public policy topics at the American Political Science Association (APSA) conferences in Cambridge, MA, and Vancouver, Canada.

Thank you so much to everyone who showed such generosity and support.

That meant so much to me. I am excited to be able to continue using the valuable skills, resources, and experience I gained to pay it forward as I continue my academic career.

These opportunities are crucial steps in my journey as a scholar-educator committed to epistemic inclusion and to elevating underrepresented voices, including my own.

As a resilient independent scholar on the academic and job market, I remain under-resourced and do not have immediate access to the necessary funding to move, what I believe to be, important research forward.

This fundraiser began by covering conference-related costs for PolNet and APSA in 2025, in order to share my work and keep building the research, while pushing forward in my academic journey.

Since launching this campaign last year, I have been honored to receive an APSA Centennial Center Research Grant (to advance book manuscripts and follow-up fieldwork to Pakistan), to be appointed as an APSA Centennial Center Visiting Scholar (to begin in Washington, DC soon), and to have my research accepted for presentation at both the APSA Political Networks Conference at the University of Manchester (August 4-7) and the APSA Annual Meeting in Boston this fall (Sept 3-6).

These opportunities represent significant milestones in building momentum in my academic career as an independent scholar.

Several papers are in progress for publication, and the research continues. In March, I presented my research focusing on social capital and foreign aid effectiveness in fragile contexts, at the Social Capital 2026 Conference (which shifted online, given regional instability - March 25-26). Here is a letter of support from the Institution of Social Capital.

I was able to register for both APSA conferences this fall and I look forward to joining them again this year.

Additionally, I received a small travel grant for the APSA (on July 8), which helped confirm my participation in the APSA PolNet Conference at the University of Manchester in August.

As I prepare to present my paper, "Network Fragility after USAID: Donor Centrality and the Bridging Link Fallacy in Development Governance," I'm reminded why I called this initiative Rise Beyond Margins.

This past year has been about continuing to build scholarship without the security of a permanent home institution. Presenting this research is not only an important academic milestone, but also a reminder that critical scholarship can continue to grow through resilience, community support, and determination.

Much of my research focuses on fragile and conflict-affected contexts, humanitarian response, foreign aid, localization, and the relationships that determine how assistance reaches communities during times of crisis.

While I am not currently in a position to directly fund humanitarian efforts myself, I remain committed to contributing through scholarship that seeks to better understand these challenges and inform more effective, equitable, and locally grounded policy and practice.

To continue this work (the paper and broader research and teaching agenda), I have been actively seeking sponsors, travel grants, and institutional partners to advance my research agenda and academic goals. I will continue to keep this campaign transparent by sharing updates on funding, research milestones, and opportunities as they develop.

At the present time, however, I have not yet secured the upfront funding needed to travel to both conferences.

Now approaching 5 years since I received my PhD, I have experienced how difficult it is to sustain scholarship and research as an independent scholar, but I hope my efforts can show community donors that I am determined to continue this journey while searching for the right platform and funding to sustain it.

In the meantime, your support helps sustain this journey, beyond just conference travel - through keeping momentum in the job market, advancing manuscripts and completion of publications, and the preparation for forthcoming and future conferences/travels this year - during a time when I am working without institutional funding, resources, or a full-time salary and benefits.

Thank you for standing with me as I continue this important work. Ultimately, what this demonstrates is a community-powered academic journey, and I am proud to have remained resilient through it.

Your support - through a donation, sharing this campaign, or simply kind words of encouragement - helps bring this research and pedagogical agenda into conference halls, classrooms, and beyond.

You can scroll down to read my full story from the first phase of this campaign, my research topics, previous conference details, current budgets for APSA 2026 conferences and more. I hope to keep updating this as my research, funding sources, and opportunities develop.

In this story, along with the linked writings (ongoing), I provide further explanation of why supporting this fundraiser is important, not just for me, but for the larger narrative for inclusive scholarship (as stated earlier - "epistemic inclusion"), Global South voices, and overall equity, inclusion, diversity, justice, accessibility, and belonging in Academia for underrepresented scholars, like me.

Thank you so much for believing in me and your generous support!

In Solidarity and Peace,

Your sister, Dr. Elsa

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About Me:

My name is Dr. Elsa T. Khwaja. I am currently an independent scholar, writer, consultant, artist, and public policy researcher focused on international development in fragile and conflict-affected spaces, social inclusion and justice, foreign aid policy, localization, and qualitative & mixed-methods research.

I am on the academic job market!

Please find more information HERE.

Recently, I was accepted to the Visiting Scholar Program at the American Political Science Association, Centennial Center for Political Science and Public Affairs, and I look forward to starting that residency this summer. I was also recently awarded the Centennial Center Spring Research Grant which covers costs to support my book manuscripts and follow-up fieldwork travel to Pakistan to advance my research and teaching agenda.

I received my PhD in Public Policy from George Mason University, and I specialize in International Development Policy in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Spaces. You are welcome to learn more about my background on my professional website HERE. I am also a writer and blogger on Medium and Substack. I have a Substack academic newsletter dedicated to exploring qualitative methods and building community with other scholars, writers, and practitioners, called The Qualitative Inquisition.

I am also an advocate for Equity, Inclusion, Diversity, Justice, Accessibility, and Belonging. As someone committed to mental health advocacy, I believe this expanded acronym reflects a more holistic vision for inclusive spaces.

My research, pedagogy, and advocacy aim to represent and elevate silenced or unheard voices (both research scholars as well as the populations they represent and study) across global professional, communal, and academic spaces.

Over the past several years, I published over 100 articles on Medium, launched my Substack newsletter The Qualitative Inquisition, and continued applying for opportunities, mentoring, tutoring, and writing, while being underemployed, freelancing, and without a current affiliation with academic institutions.

In early 2025, I performed the pilgrimage to Makkah, a requirement within Islam. Soon after such a transformational experience, I began wearing the headscarf (the hijab), a personal decision connected to my faith and solidarity with the global Muslim community.

This transition, the experience of minorities and women of color in academic spaces, became an embodied extension of my research on Belonging in Academia, which I presented at APSA TLC in February 2025. The paper is now a manuscript in progress for publication.

As a Pakistani-American Muslim woman, an active supporter of Indigenous and marginalized voices, and an independent scholar, educator, and practitioner, without formal institutional support at this time, I feel that I have directly lived the very challenging dynamics I study: invisibility, erasure, vulnerability, fragility, disempowerment, and ultimately the emotional toll of working at the margins of academia.

Therefore, my research is part and parcel to my personal and professional experiences connected to my identity.

As someone navigating both faith-based visibility and invisible disabilities, I’ve encountered systemic barriers that continue to marginalize those who speak out, especially on topics like Palestine, mental health, women of color, and Muslim women’s agency.

Still, I continue, not just for myself, but for all those surviving and resisting in silence.

As the Stoic Philosopher, Epictetus, once stated, "Persist and Resist."

I had been hoping to return to Pakistan for fieldwork this year for a potential follow-up field trip, and to support my ongoing book and research projects. It has been more than 7 years since I last returned from Pakistan from my final doctoral fieldwork trip (March 2019) before I completed my degree (August 2021). I hope to continue making an effort to return, step by step, starting with the partial support I am receiving form the APSA Centennial Grant (as noted earlier).

My efforts reflect many of our stories that are left out of dominant narratives... stories that I hope to continue to reveal and amplify in my research, scholarship, advocacy, professional, and writing endeavors.

My experiences have contributed to my motivation to continue supporting underrepresented scholars, starting with putting the oxygen mask on myself through my own presence, as well as in this vital research.

This year, I’m reaching out to communities that truly believe in elevating underrepresented voices and supporting scholars like me.

A Community-Funded "Postdoc"

As noted in the updates, this campaign allowed me to complete my primary goal of making it to APSA and ongoing participation in the job market. I am truly appreciative, humbled, and excited about having been able to accomplish those very difficult tasks, especially as an independent scholar. The next phase of this journey will continue what I have called a community‑funded postdoc or research initiative- a model for community‑driven scholarship when there is a lack of substantive institutional support for advancing our work forward. I hope to share that article about this concept, so please stay tuned!

Concluding Remarks

I hope that with my continued resilience, I will be able to serve as just one example to other dreamers and scholars to stay resilient and keep fighting, and to continue exploring creative and resourceful ways to maintain momentum, give back, and pay it forward.

And I realize how important it is that I stay the course in the larger narrative for those facing similar challenges. It is easy to get dismayed by your circumstances and challenges through personal and collective crises.

I wrote about that challenge in my recent newsletter edition here:

Conducting Scholarship through Personal and Collective Crises.

Please feel free to read about it.

I think these are critical systemic issues many academics are facing at the moment. But it does not mean we stop trying, whether fighting to start our careers, sustain it, or rebuild after setbacks.

I am choosing to remain resilient in the efforts to redefine academic excellence and rise as a change-making scholar, writer, and educator.

I know my journey represents what some may consider an "Underdog story," but it’s not just about being a fighter.

I’ve made the efforts, conducted the research, earned the qualifications, and continued to show up, regardless of the challenge.

This is about finding the opportunity to keep moving forward and supporting others with similar challenges along the way. Your support during this transition will help me stay the course and get there, and I believe stories like mine can inspire others to keep going, too!

Ultimately, this campaign represents anyone who has ever been made to feel invisible… and chose to rise anyway.

Thank you so much for your generosity and support!

With heartfelt gratitude, solidarity, peace, and sincerity,

Your sister,

Dr. Elsa T. Khwaja, PhD

APSA Centennial Center Visiting Scholar (2026–2027)

American Political Science Association

Social Scientist | Independent Public Policy Scholar

Writer | Advocate | International Development Consultant

www.elsatkhwaja.com

qualinquisition.substack.com

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UPDATE (7/1/2026): Relaunching for APSA and PolNet 2026

As noted above and in the update, I am relaunching this fundraiser alongside my Painting Heals project once again to support any outstanding costs with my current academic journey. Please review update and relevant articles to be included.

Here is my relevant Qi Newsletter about the effort: (Will update with link soon!)

Please do check on updates from my connected Painting Heals Initiative HERE.

Thank you for your generosity, understanding, and support!

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UPDATE (12/2/2025): A Giving and Doing Tuesday Update:

Friends, I’m relaunching my community-powered research fundraiser today on Giving Tuesday! Earlier this year, your support helped me attend Polnet 2025 and APSA 2025, and one of the papers connected to that conference is now moving toward publication! Something I couldn’t have done without your encouragement.

Today, on a global day of generosity, I’m reopening this campaign to support the next phase of my research and writing, including a newly accepted international conference presentation, potential mini-fieldwork expedition to Pakistan, and ongoing publications.

If you feel called to support or share, I would be so grateful.

Thank you for keeping this work alive!

Here is my most recent Substack Newsletter about the APSA experience in Vancouver:

The Politics of Visibility: Reflections on a Memorable Academic Pilgrimage

I hope to share my next newsletter, regarding the community-powered scholarship and the intellectual justification for crowdfunding, soon! In light of Giving Tuesday, you can also gift a subscription (paid or unpaid) too.

It is an important reminder that there are many ways to show our generosity, compassion, and care to all those who need our support.

You can subscribe here: The Qualitative Inquisition.

Thank you!

The final budget from the APSA conferences has been updated below as well. A new budget estimate for my future research endeavors will be shared in the coming weeks.

UPDATES (November 1, 2025):

Sharing Reflections on my APSA experience! I made it (Also check out recent Updates sent to donors below. Be sure to click on see more to see the previous updates. Here is the reflection piece in The Qualitative Inquisition:

The Politics of Visibility: Reflections on a Memorable Academic Pilgrimage

UPDATES (September 5, 2025):

Linking Painting Heals Initiative to the Campaign (see update note)!

Painting Heals: https://paintingheals.elsatkhwaja.com/

UPDATES (Aug 29, 2025):

Substack article about PolNet-PaCSS Conference experience:

On the Road to Rising: From Self-Empowerment to Community Empowerment

Here is a Medium article about the campaign:

Rising Beyond the Margins: Fighting for Belonging and Inclusion in Academia

My Substack Newsletter about the campaign:

Rise Beyond the Margins: A Call for Community, Solidarity, and Inclusive Scholarship

A Formal Funding Proposal - PDF Document

Abstracts of Papers - PDF Document

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PREVIOUS CAMPAIGN

First Phase: Rise Beyond the Margins: Fuel Dr. Elsa's Mission to Empower Inclusive Scholarship

Dear all,

I would like to invite you to support this campaign to help sustain a crucial phase in my research, resilience, and academic journey. This crowdsourcing campaign primarily aims to cover APSA conference expenses, academic job market efforts, book preparations and continuity in vital research.

Below you can learn more details on the conferences, the research and mission you will be supporting.

Fundraising Purpose - The Research Projects and Conference Details:

This August and September, I have the honor of presenting three research papers at the 2025 American Political Science Association (APSA) conferences:

APSA Political Networks Conference and Workshops - Cambridge, MA – (Aug. 11–14)

APSA Annual Meeting - Vancouver, Canada – (Sept. 11–14)

APSA Teaching & Learning Conference - Vancouver, Canada – (Sept. 13–14)

These presentations reflect an incredible academic and professional journey grounded in rigorous research, critical reflexivity, and real personal and professional experiences.

My papers included:

"Empowering Communities: The Rural Support Program Network Model for Indigenous Development in Pakistan"
"The Politics of Invisibility: Gender Apartheid and Erasure of Women in Pakistan & Afghanistan"
"Beyond the Classroom: Combatting Stigma and Empowering Mental Health in Academia”

My participation at the conferences will include attendance at the Teaching and Learning and APSA Convention sessions, the exhibition hall, potential job talks/interviews, networking with scholars, and conversations about my two book proposals/manuscripts with future book publishers.

This 2025 campaign raised at least $2700 to support for travel and research continuation (This was an Update. See Note below.):

Flights, travel, and lodging for the upcoming conferences

Submission of my long-awaited book manuscript, based on my dissertation (~200 interviews across Pakistan and Afghanistan)

Ongoing research, writing, and advancing publications in the pipeline on development in Pakistan and Afghanistan, humanitarian intervention, and social inclusion (through potential contingency funding to continue academic work).

Public writing and public engagement on themes of gender, justice, empowerment, visibility, and healing

Personal and Broader Impacts

This research speaks to global justice, gender equity, and mental health in academia... reimagining what inclusive, decolonized scholarship can look like.

It contributes to important conversations on decolonizing development, advancing equity in academic institutions, and centering gender justice in fragile states. By amplifying lived experiences and underrepresented perspectives, these papers challenge dominant narratives in global policy, push for mental health recognition within scholarly spaces, and offer frameworks for inclusive, community-based solutions. Collectively, this work contributes to a more just, empathetic, and responsive academic and policy discourse.

How You Can Support This Mission

This campaign is not about charity.

I see this as an opportunity to support a member of your community, in mutual aid, community and solidarity.

If you believe in:

• Making space for underrepresented voices

• Centering mental health, spiritual belonging in scholarly spaces, for people of all backgrounds and faiths, and academic and policy work

• Supporting scholarship that honors the Responsibility of the Intellectual, a personal, collective, and political truth...

... Then please consider supporting this campaign through a donation or a share in your network. Even a kind word can go a long way!

Your support will directly help me bring this work forward, not only into conference halls, but into classrooms, publications, and wider public discourse as I continue my academic journey.

Previous Success and This Year’s Goal

Last year, with the help of a Fund My Travel campaign (supported largely by my family - Thank you!), I was able to attend the APSA Political Networks Conference and Workshops at Florida State University, and present my work on Afghanistan. Unfortunately, I could not attend the APSA Annual Convention, which was a painful limitation that I am striving to overcome this year.

I believe this also connects to my research and personal observations on Belonging and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Academia.

With my research on diversity, equity and inclusion, there are challenges that reflect broader issues of exclusion and performative solidarity in some academic spaces.

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DONOR ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS:

Similar to my past fundraisers, I plan to continue gifting all my individual donors with my original paintings. These are gifts rather than incentives. This also connects to my other TLC 2025 paper, on Arts-based Pedagogy and research (which I hope to share in the near future).

You can learn more about this initiative here:

Paintingheals.elsatkhwaja.com. (I aim to continue updating this website and provide more details in future fundraisers).

With the goal of advancing the research and publications, I hope to have the opportunity to give proper credit in the acknowledgements to individuals and institutions for the support in all my published work.

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PROFESSIONAL SERVICES

Additionally, if you or your organization are interested in supporting this initiative through professional collaboration, I am available for consulting, research, teaching, writing, speaking, and other academic services. Please feel free to visit my Services page at www.elsatkhwaja.com/services/ or contact me to learn more.

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BUDGET AND TRANSPARENCY

Estimated BUDGET FOR POLNET 2026 AND APSA 2026:

Estimated Budget – Political Networks Conference (PolNet) 2026

University of Manchester

August 3–7, 2026

Conference Registration & Pre-Conference Workshop – $138.00 (Paid)

Airfare (Washington, DC – Manchester) – $1,192.50 (Paid)

UK Visa: $27.10 (Paid)

Baggage: $150 ($75 both ways)

Accommodation – $525

Transportation to/from Airports – $130

Local Transportation – $50

Meals – $75

Emergency/Contingency – $100

Estimated Total before Grant: $2,387.60

PolNet Travel Grant: -$500 (reimbursed after conference)

Estimated Total: $1,842.60

Estimated Budget – APSA Annual Meeting 2026

American Political Science Association Annual Meeting

Boston, Massachusetts | September 3–6, 2026

Conference Registration – Paid

Transportation (Airfare/Train/Car (gas and parking)) – $350

Accommodation – $700

Local Transportation – $80

Meals – $150

Emergency/Contingency – $100

Estimated Remaining Total: $1,380

TOTAL UPFRONT COSTS FOR BOTH 2026 APSA CONFERENCES: $3,767.60

*As of July 12, 2026, this campaign has been updated to reflect my remaining estimated conference travel expenses. Previous community support totaling $950 was already applied toward my research/ conferences last year. The current fundraising goal (~$4500) reflects the remaining financial need as through September 2026.

**These estimates reflect the costs associated with presenting my accepted research at the 2026 Political Networks Conference (University of Manchester) and the APSA Annual Meeting in Boston. Conference registration has already been paid for both events.

I remain committed to contributing toward these costs through consulting, writing, teaching, art, and other professional opportunities while seeking community support to help bridge the remaining financial gap.

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The Final total expense for the APSA and PolNet 2025 conferences was $2680.74. This was updated after the actual costs were included. $950 from this fundraiser had gone to those expenses. Remaining funds for the conference expenses in 2025 were retrieved through other channels of support. Total raised for the conferences and general academic support in 2025 was approximately $3000.

In mid-July $3500 goal remains for the fundraiser for the 2026 APSA and PolNet Conferences. Please check out the Updates that will note the progress in raising the funds.

I will continue raising funds for reimbursements and contingency expenses as noted in the proposal. If I receive more than the goal, funds will go toward continuing my research, book manuscript preparation, and advancing all efforts connected to this journey. I will be sure to update on how I use those funds going forward.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

This campaign is intended to offer a buffer to advance my research, while I continue exploring more formal opportunities on the academic market. This is public crowdfunding for educational purposes to meet immediate needs. Depending on the situation, I may close the campaign or redirect funds when and if I have secured funding from more official avenues.

Your contributions would not only cover support for academic conferences but also create some space that allows me to continue advancing this important research, writing, and book work in the months ahead, while I work towards securing my next formal opportunity.

Once again, thank you so much for your generosity and support!

"All your scholarship would be in vain if at the same time you do not build your character and attain mastery over your thoughts and your actions." - Mahatma Gandhi

Campaign Author's Note: While I have launched this fundraiser, I will continue to update it with photos, videos, articles, budget refinements, and more going forward. So please return for the updates, and thank you for your patience and encouragement as I continue to strengthen this mission and campaign!

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COLLECTION OF VIDEOS, ARTICLES, BLOGS:

This section will include links to YouTube videos, blog posts, and articles from Medium, Substack, and my blogs over the course of the campaign. You will find them shared across my social media platforms, including LinkedIn, Instagram, X, and other spaces. Please do return for updates. Thank you!

Original Campaign Medium Article:

Rising Beyond the Margins: Fighting for Belonging & Inclusion in Academia

Campaign Substack Qi Article:

Rise Beyond the Margins

Post-PolNet Conference Articles on Substack Qi Newsletter:

Politics of Visibility: Reflections on a Memorable Academic Pilgrimage

On the Road to Rising: From Self-Empowerment to Community Empowerment

A Formal Funding Proposal for 2025 APSA and PolNet - PDF Document

Abstracts of Papers - PDF Document

YouTube Update Videos:

Walking and Sharing Reflections at Harvard University
PolNet at Harvard 2025 Experience
APSA at Vancouver 2025 Experience

Campaign YouTube Short:

Sharing my Campaign

Campaign YouTube Video:

Rising Beyond the Margins: Fuel Dr. Elsa's Mission to Empower Inclusive Scholarship

YouTube Short on Hijab:

A Moment to Commemorate a Moment

Rise Beyond Margins: Empowering Inclusive Scholarship

Still $2,182 to go. Help us build momentum.