Meet Salma Choudhury-Muro, Christodora’s new Executive Director
In January 2023, Christodora welcomed its new executive director, Ms. Salma Choudhury-Muro. Learn more about our new leader!
How have experiences in nature helped to shape you?
Every child should have access to inspiring ways to learn. Nature is one powerful place to do that, a place to experience something transformative. It is more than just therapeutic – nature is essential to our physical and mental health.
In March 2020, the sudden transition to remote work and the lack of places to go outside my home opened up a world of options I had previously dabbled in but had never taken a real dive into. As many discovered during this time, nature became a powerful source of comfort and inspiration. Daily hikes with my two kids became a part of our lives for over a year. Even when the weather got cold, we didn’t stop. Instead, we got warm clothes and hiked in the snow.
I continue to be shaped by my experiences with nature every week through my newly discovered passion for mountain biking. I live in a fairly forested part of New York, and the feeling of taking to the trail is indescribable.
How does your background inform and guide your work at Christodora?
I grew up in New Orleans and had the opportunity to attend Louisiana public schools. The one I enrolled in was full of very bright and capable young people from every neighborhood in the city – all bused in. Yet there were very few resources – with no books and the campus full of portable classrooms. I then received a scholarship to a private school. It was full of manicured lawns, tennis courts, a three-story science building, a theater with wireless microphones, an art wing with pottery wheels, and a full-scale orchestra. It was clear to me from the age of 13 that I was given a privilege not afforded to my friends that I left behind.
I felt uncomfortable and could not understand the situation. I felt that I did not do anything to deserve more. I was just given this opportunity. There is no question that equity and access was in my mind from an early age, as well as leadership. For example, I wanted to be president of my class. Being a voice could help change things in some way. Yet I faced adversity even then. When I won the 8th-grade election, a young boy asked me if my dad, an English teacher at community college, had written my speech.
I understood that I was on different ground. This was Louisiana in the 1980s. There was a country club down the road to which no one of my skin color was admitted. Even in a city with a black mayor for 20 years, the institutions that were racist in their practices were deep and powerful. These things were clear to me as a young person growing up between race and class lines. Later, I understood that these experiences growing up in the South uniquely positioned me to broker conversations about change – and to create access for children. I have always had this drive. The need to pay the gifts I was afforded forward. I want to make room for other children to have more opportunities. And Christodora does this work. It creates transformative life and learning experiences on an even playing field. This is where all children can be successful and explore their greatest capabilities. Christodora helps young people begin to have a different view of themselves, which helps to change the positioning of their life trajectory.
Blue Mountain Reservation trails
What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
I love being with my family. I love cooking for my two kids. My favorite dish lately is baked chicken, butternut squash with leeks or mashed potatoes, and broccoli. My kids love it too. I love reading and playing chess with my son, and with my daughter, I love exchanging back massages and talking together before she goes to sleep. These moments are priceless.
What are some lessons you took from the COVID-19 pandemic?
As a single mother with a busy schedule, as we all have, I felt incredibly overwhelmed at times. However, those moments helped me discover a powerful lesson: we can find bliss even under highly stressful circumstances. For me, the two essential elements of bliss are nature and meditation.
What is your favorite green space to visit?
I love to visit Blue Mountain Reservation near my home in Croton-on-Hudson. Most people dub the reservation a mountain biking paradise, which is a new hobby of mine. Blue Mountain is 1,500 acres of paradise - stunning in sun, rain, or snow.