Jamila Shakir

Before wearing natural hair was considered acceptable, beautiful or the ‘healthy’ thing to do, Jamilah Shakir was researching and applying intensely what kinky and curly hair needed to be healthy and beautiful. She traveled abroad to study in Senegal, West Africa and throughout the United States. Thousands of hours were invested in successfully transitioning women and girls from wearing hair relaxers to a head full of beautiful kinky tresses. With commitment, she has refined the art of braiding and making women beautiful, a craft passed on from her mother since Jamilah was 9 years old. Jamilah Shakir, 28 year veteran in the hair industry; inventor of Easy Braids; developer and CEO of Saniyyah Naturally, LLC full line of natural hair products; founder and CEO of Camp Butterfly Girls and Budding Braiders; and now author of “I Can Do My Own Nappy Hair” was and still is blazing trails at a pace that gets even the most shy amongst us exuberant!

You may see the beautiful results of Saniyyah Naturally products and work on: Lisa Arrindell Anderson, Miss Atlanta 2003-04 Danica Tisdale, celebrities on the red carpet and special occasions, and heads in need of help all over the world. Exclusive design works may be found on the cover of Essence Fashion Magazine and Ebony Magazine; featured in Heart and Soul Magazine, full fashion spread in Jezebel Magazine, featured in The Atlantan and Skirt Magazines; selected top stylist in Sophisticates Black Hair Magazine, Braids and Beauty Magazines; corporate hair styling for Publix, Cingular Wireless, Coca Cola, Honey Magazine, Kraft Foods, and Bellsouth; featured artist in Film works; CNN Documentary ‘Natural Tresses’, ‘The Fighting Temptation’, and Tyler Perry’s, ‘Madea’s Family Reunion’; and pioneer guest artist in the first National Black Arts Festival.

Jamilah Shakir is a devoted philanthropist with her life purpose being to vastly improve the life options of children, particularly girls and provide tools to help them make wise choices throughout life. She fulfills her purpose through serving in non-profit organization she founded; Camp Butterfly Girls International, Inc. and Budding Braiders Entrepreneur program based in Atlanta, Georgia.

When 11 year old Damali was asked what she learned in the Camp Butterfly Girls Int’l session for the day, her reply was, ‘I learned that Camp Butterfly Girls keeps getting better and better’. ~Damali

Camp Butterfly Girls International, Inc. is registered with the state of Georgia as a 501c3 non-profit organization. Founded in 2010 by Jamilah Shakir, we believe that being proactive, educating and building skills for girls and their families, and providing supportive intervention early in life ensures that girls will make healthy choices and subsequently improve their families, communities, and help make the world a better place for all of us.
Our focus is providing enriching experiences and training through evidence based and therapeutically based curriculum. Our whole life education programs are provided through monthly enrichment sessions, therapeutic retreats, parenting training and education, prevention education, service to humanity, and self development programs. Girls learn in ways that appeal to them and help actually change actions and develop them into physically, socially, and emotionally intelligent beings.
The Founder’s personal passion is to fulfill the mission of the organization by ensuring that all children are protected and have access to resources, opportunities and information to help them achieve personal success in life.