Activist. Idealist. Empath. Tissa Hami is just your average Ivy League graduate turned investment banker turned stand-up comic turned workplace consultant, facilitator, keynote speaker, and executive coach.

Born in Iran and raised in suburban Boston, Tissa attended Brown University where she received a BA in International Relations. Her first career was on Wall Street, where she worked as an investment banker at JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs.

Following her passion to create a better world, she received a dual Master of International Affairs from the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs and the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris with the goal of becoming a human rights advocate. Then her career took a turn.

In the aftermath of 9/11, Tissa found herself unemployed for a year, at a time when people of her background were misunderstood and vilified. In Fall 2002, Tissa dared to do something that no one in America had ever done – step onstage veiled and tell jokes. At a time when Muslim-Americans were advised to keep a low profile, she chose to stand up.

Tissa's groundbreaking humor quickly caught the attention of audiences, bookers, and the media. She earned a reputation for making people think as well as laugh.

Due to increased demand for her voice and perspective, Tissa branched out into speaking engagements, workshops, and writing. She traveled to 25 states, bringing her brand of humor to audiences nationwide. From prominent universities like Harvard and Yale, to small towns where she was told that she was "the first Muslim we’ve ever seen," Tissa’s disarming wit connected with audiences across the country.

After an award-winning comedy career, Tissa elected to blend her multi-faceted experience in business and the performing arts into a career in workplace consulting, training, and executive coaching. Her performance background results in programming that is more dynamic, engaging, and relatable than the usual lecture. She has conducted over 500 training programs, speaking engagements, and performances across the country for an array of clients including Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, non-profits, and universities.

A passionate advocate, Tissa has been a featured speaker at a number of conferences including Harvard Law School’s Islam in the West Program, the Ford Foundation’s Difficult Dialogues Program, INBOUND2020, and The Conference Board’s Annual D&I Conference. She has been featured in media worldwide including the PBS documentary Stand Up: Muslim American Comics Come of Age, ABC's The View, Australia's Dateline, BBC, NPR, the Washington Post, and the Boston Globe Sunday Magazine. Her radio interview with Commonwealth Journal was awarded first place in the Public Affairs category by the Associated Press of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. The San Francisco Chronicle named her one of the Top 11 female comedians in the country.

Tissa is working toward a better world, one organization at a time.