KARAMAH held its first Leadership Development Program at the University of Richmond in Virginia the week of May 26, 2003. The program was designed to develop leadership skills in Muslim women in order that they may affect change in their communities. The program was in preparation for "A More Perfect Union", a project that KARAMAH will be undertaking in Richmond, in partnership with the University of Richmond Chaplaincy and Council for America's First Freedom.

The Leadership Development Program included core courses, such as Systems Analysis, Culture and Conflict, and Community Change. In addition, supplementary courses which responded to the needs of the group were also included. such as Race and Perceptual Prisms, and dealing with difficult people. Eleven women from as nearby as Richmond and as far away as Morocco attended.

The success of this year’s pilot program is encouraging to KARAMAH as it intends to offer the Leadership Development Program on a continuing basis. Participants of this year’s program have provided positive feedback with the consistent recommendation that the length of the program be extended so that the courses could delve more deeply into the theories presented and their application to the issues that Muslim women leaders and their communities are facing.