Nadeema comes from a family of educators and her passion and specific interests are children, literacy development and the intersections between pedagogies, language and literacy, and context in order to build a more just society. Nadeema had the privilege of working at PRAESA (Project for the Study of Alternative Education in SA) at University of Cape Town from 2004-2012. She worked in the Early Literacy Unit. This work revolved around the implementation of the language in education policy at various levels; through research in schools, building a culture of reading in communities, and working with in-service teachers.
In 2012, she was part of the team that conceptualised and began Nal’ibali, a national campaign on reading for enjoyment. Nadeema worked in pre-service teacher education, curriculum development and building literate school communities at Nelson Mandela University in Gqeberha. Her interests focus broadly on ways of integrating communities into schools and more specifically on community-led pedagogies within school spaces. Currently, she is Literacy Director at Room to Read South Africa. She is National Chairperson of the Literacy Association of South Africa and is involved in the support and upliftment of literacy at all levels of society.