Sania Mahmood

By cultivating connections with others, Sania Mahmood has developed self-understanding that empowers her to lead others, solve problems, and live out values that make a difference. 

Working as a lead engagement ambassador in The Source for two years, Sania has leveraged her experience as a sorority student leader to help others navigate campus resources and to create strategic solutions for their student organizations. 

Sania works with fellow engagement ambassadors to implement events under the umbrella of Be Well, Lead Well, which focuses on providing wellness content to student leaders. She integrates her values about balance and self-care to produce meaningful, engaging, and learning-centered events. 

Her nominator noted Sania was crucial to deploying two student engagement programs while at The Source: the Hokie Student Leadership Summit and GobblerMarket.  

Those programs complemented Sania’s further efforts as President of the United Council of Fraternities and Sororities to reinvigorate unity across its member organizations through exchanging diverse experiences and perspectives. 

Sania earned the Paige N. Neubauer Award for Emerging Sorority Leader of the Year as a sister and president of Sigma Psi Zeta. Supporting their mission to provide a means to success and support for women of color, Sania has celebrated and uplifted the commonalities, unique cultural backgrounds, and individual experiences inside of her sisterhood and in the greater Virginia Tech community. 

“I found that I repressed my cultural identity and heritage for most of the first 18 years of my life,” said Sania. “At Virginia Tech, I was able to find my place and embrace my heritage, sharing it with others and exchanging with my sisters, who have different backgrounds but all share the woman of color experience.” 

Sania has thrived in her growing self-knowledge, becoming president of her sorority’s chapter her sophomore year and helping it work together to promote culture and education and combatting violence against women.  

Sania said her work has helped her develop values that “require me to set goals, plan, and take action, reflecting on how I can do better next time. I am passionate about curating an idea and guiding others to bring it to life.” 

A senior graduating in May in Computational Modeling and Data Analytics, Economics in the College of Science, Sania will apply her skills as a global technology analyst at Bank of America. 

It is a privilege to present the Aspire! Award for PURSUE SELF-UNDERSTANDING AND INTEGRITY to Sania Mahmood.