Born in Sylhet, Bangladesh, but raised in the New York metro area, she studied History and African Studies at Rutgers University and International Affairs at the Graduate Program in International Affairs at the New School, where her fieldwork included legal assistance to refugees undergoing the UNHCR status determination process in Hong Kong. With a growing desire to document what she saw, she shifted to visual journalism, attending the photojournalism and documentary photography program at the International Center of Photography in New York City where she received the George and Joyce Moss Scholarship. Mansura’s work has been exhibited at the Museum of the City of New York, Photoville and the International Center of Photography. She has been published by the WSJ, CNN and other news outlets.