Maidina Kadeer is an Uyghur activist and researcher. She has done research with Amnesty International and a variety of other political journals with a focus on indigenous rights and the correlation between colonialism and drug epidemics. After attending the Amnesty International Human Rights College, she went on to work as the province youth coordinator for Amnesty International. At her university in Montreal, Maidana is involved in student politics regarding sustainability. She is also a published poet, with her work "ninetysix" in Yiara Magazine.
She takes after her mother, Remila Kadeer, an Uyghur actress and comedy writer. Currently, she is developing a website that offers health and legal information on HIV and AIDS in several languages to diminish the stigma and false information surrounding AIDS. Ultimately, her goal is to be a policy maker working to create sensible drug policies and revise laws aiming to punish those living with HIV and AIDS. We wish her luck with all of her future endeavors!