About Farah
Farah Zulaikha moves easily from United Nations Ambassador to top model to entrepreneur, humanitarian, musician and educator. Born, raised and schooled in the New York City area to philanthropically-minded parents, Farah exhibited a strong sense of civic duty and global awareness from an early age. Growing up, she joined her family on charity missions focusing on poverty, hunger, access to medical care, conflict and human rights violations. An invitation to appear on Tyra Banks’s “The Tyra Show” ignited her passion for the fashion arts and launched a storied career of star turns in fashion shows, ad campaigns and magazines as muse to some of the world’s top designers, including Versace, Chanel, Tiffany & Co., Louis Vuitton, Roberto Cavalli, Giorgio Armani and Salvatore Ferragamo.
Coupled with her affinity for language – Farah speaks Spanish, Urdu, Hindi, Arabic, Punjabi and conversational Italian – and her ease in front of the camera and crowds, she is also a most effective speaker and media personality. Farah has been featured in national and international publications, including Vogue, Elle, and The New York Times; and appeared on CNN, Entertainment Tonight, Bravo TV and more. Trained as a classical musician, Farah was invited to join the New York Pops at Carnegie Hall as a special guest violinist under the direction of Steven Reineke. Farah performed the complex arrangement of “Carol of The Bells” from the first violin section and was highlighted in PLAYBILL. Farah partnered with award-winning multi-platinum songwriter/producer/artist duo Adrian Porter and Abraham Poythress aka AP Factor. Together, they co-wrote an original song, which resulted in a large donation to Urban Farming. In February of 2020, Farah sang a duet with Golden Globe Award winner and 2 time Tony Award nominee, Patrick Wilson, to benefit the Montclair Film Festival. Their performance received coverage in ET Canada and Just Jared.
Farah volunteered in the shelter system in some of the most underserved areas. Because of her important work involving gender equality among young women and girls, Farah received the Distinguished International Humanitarian Leadership Award from the National Council of Women of the United States (NCWUS). She was also named as a United Nations Ambassador for NCWUS by the late President, Mary E. Singletary.
Farah supported the #TimesUp movement in an official capacity as a United Nations Ambassador. In 2019, she attended the Bentonville Film Festival, which was co-founded by Geena Davis in conjunction with The Geena Davis Institute on Gender And Media. Embodying the slogan “If she can see it she can be it,” the pair walked the red carpet together and participated in several panels.
Moved by the many survivors with whom she’s worked, Farah mines her biochemistry background for change. She was the sole recipient of the Pancreum Diabetes Artificial Pancreas Award for her role in helping Pancreum to develop a revolutionary, modular, expandable, wearable artificial pancreas. She is also credited with creating a range of all-natural lip balms for domestic violence survivors affected by facial trauma. Lip products are donated to women’s crisis centers.
