Faruza Kalaba

As an In-Flight Refueler for the Air National Guard, Kalaba traveled the globe and had the opportunity to defend her country of heritage during the
Kosova War.

From the Balkans to the United States, Faruza Kalaba’s family history is as culturally rich as it is vast. Her father, born in Kosova, and her mother, from Ukraine, met at a displaced persons camp in Italy after World War II, and together relocated to Syria, where Kalaba and her three sisters were born. The family moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1959, where Kalaba proceeded to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Linguistics from Northeastern
Illinois University.
It was after graduation that Kalaba made a big decision about her career—one that would also fuel her desire to see the many worlds her family had experienced.