The Council on American-Islamic Relations has offices in over 30 cities in 19 states. Each chapter is overseen by a Board of Directors and managed by an Executive Director.  Click here to see a list of all chapters.

Parvez Ahmed
Chairman

Dr. Parvez Ahmed is the Chairman of the Board for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). Dr. Ahmed is an Associate Professor of Finance at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville. He is an active researcher whose articles have been published in leading finance journals such as The Journal of Banking and Finance, Financial Management, Journal of Portfolio Management etc. He recently authored a book on Mutual Funds titled Mutual Funds – Fifty Years of Academic Research.

In addition he writes editorials dispelling stereotypes about Islam and Muslims. His articles have been published in several leading newspapers around the country such as the Orlando Sentinel, Miami Herald, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Sun Tribune, Houston Chronicle, New York Newsday, Seattle Times, San Jose Mercury News, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Charlotte Observer, Tampa Tribune and many others.

Dr. Ahmed served as an at-large board member for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in Florida.

Currently he serves as a board member for OneJax, formerly the National Conference on Community and Justice (NCCJ).

Dr. Ahmed won a Civil Liberties award in 2002 from the South-Central Pennsylvania chapter of the ACLU.

To read his paper titled, “Western Muslim Minorities” click here.

To read his paper titled, “Terror in the Name of Islam – Unholy War not Jihad” click here.To read his editorials visit his blog.

Recently he was interviewed by Utne Reader. To read his interview, click here.

To read Dr. Ahmed’s address on the fifth anniversary of 9-11, click here.

To read his most recent interview, click here

Ahmad Al-Akhras
Vice Chairman

Dr. Ahmad Al-Akhras is the founding president of the Ohio chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR-Ohio), which he helped open in June 1998. During his tenure, CAIR-Ohio established three offices, Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati. Since 2005, Dr. Al-Akhras continues to serve on the CAIR-Ohio Board.

Dr. Al-Akhras was inducted to the Columbus Leadership Hall of Fame in 2004. Under his leadership, CAIR-Ohio received the ACLU’s 2003 Liberty's Flame Award for contributions to the advancement and protection of civil liberties.

Dr. Al-Akhras lectures on important current topics such as the media portrayal of Islam, the perils of stereotyping, and the abridgement of civil rights in post 9-11 America. His speeches have taken him around the country to schools, universities, civic associations, and city councils.

Recently, Dr. Al-Akhras was the guest speaker for the diversity lecture series at the United States Military Academy at West Point where he addressed the freshman class of 1000 cadets. Last year he participated in the U.S.-Islamic World Forum held in Doha, Qatar, which sought to serve as “a convening body and a catalyst for positive action.”

He was a featured speaker for The OSU President and Provost's 2002-2003 Diversity Lecture Series and the Columbus Council on World Affairs. He also spoke at the first World Scouts Interreligious Symposium in Valencia, Spain. He participated in forums organized by the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, US EEOC, US Department of Education and the Columbus Community Relations Commission.

Dr. Al-Akhras volunteers his time as a member of the City of Columbus Community Relations Commission, Advisory Board of the McMaster School for Advancing Humanities at Defiance College in Ohio, and the Community Refugee and Immigration Services of Ohio (CRIS-Ohio). He is a former member of the Sunrise Academy Board of Education, a private elementary school in the City of Hilliard.

Dr. Al-Akhras has spent years working with religious and ethnic groups to bridge the gaps between different cultures. He serves on the executive committee of the Ohio Conference of the NAACP and the state board of Ohio Affiliate of the American Civil Liberties Union.

A Columbus resident, Dr. Al-Akhras is a registered professional engineer with doctorate and masters degrees from Ohio State University, and masters and bachelors of science degrees from the University of Jordan.

Omar Ahmad
Chairman Emeritus

Omar Ahmad is the founder of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, better known by the acronym CAIR, a Washington DC-based grassroots civil rights and advocacy group which seeks to empower the North American Muslim community through political and social activism. As the Chairman of the Board of Directors since founding in 1994, Mr. Ahmad has successfully led CAIR to becoming the largest Muslim civil rights organization with 29 regional offices and chapters.

Mr. Ahmad is a well-known activist and a community leader in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is frequently interviewed by national news media such as the New York Times, Washington Post and the LA Times. Mr. Ahmad is also the founder, President and CEO of a software technology company in the Silicon Valley. He holds B.S and M.S in computer engineering.

Nihad Awad
Board Secretary. Executive Director

Nihad Awad is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest non-profit Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States.

He has been frequently interviewed on national and international media such as CNN, BBC World Service, PBS, C-SPAN, National Public Radio, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Voice of America and Al-Jazeerah. CAIR news releases are disseminated to hundreds of thousands people worldwide on a daily basis.

After the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, Mr. Awad flew to Oklahoma to aid in the relief effort. He personally met with Governor Frank Keating and gave the governor a sizable donation for the victims’ fund on behalf of the American Muslim community.

In 1997, Mr. Awad served on Vice President Al Gore’s Civil Rights Advisory Panel to the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security.

In his professional capacity, Mr. Awad has also personally met with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and current Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to discuss the needs of the American Muslim community.

Numerous law enforcement agencies and Fortune 500 companies—including Nike and DKNY—have benefited from CAIR educational seminars on Islamic traditions and culture. In addition to resolving employment discrimination issues involving American Muslims, Mr. Awad has also conducted over 100 public relations and media training seminars nationwide.

For the 2000 presidential election, Mr. Awad was a key figure in the American Muslim Political Coordinating Committee (AMPCC), an umbrella organization of the largest American Muslim organizations, which helped to create the first Muslim voting bloc for a presidential election.

Mr. Awad is a regular participant in the U.S. Department of State’s “International Visitors Program”, which welcomes foreign dignitaries, journalists and academics who are currently visiting the President of the United States.

A few days after September 11, 2001, Mr. Awad was one of the few American Muslim leaders invited by the White House to join President Bush in a press conference at the Islamic Center of Washington, the oldest mosque in Washington DC.

Mr. Awad has testified before both houses of the U.S. Congress, most recently at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on matters involving Muslims in America.

He has also spoken at prestigious educational institutions, including Harvard, Stanford and Johns Hopkins Universities. He was also a featured speaker at the 2002 Reuters Forum on global cooperation at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. In addition, he actively works with local and national interfaith leaders and organizations in the interest of promoting positive relations among people of diverse faith communities.

Mr. Awad is also featured in Silent No More by former United States Representative Paul Findley (R-IL), a book chronicling the history of the American Muslim community.

Ihsan Bagby
Member

Ihsan Bagby is currently Associate Professor of Islamic Studies at University of Kentucky. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He obtained a PhD from University of Michigan in Near Eastern Studies (1986). His research for the last 10 years has focused on Muslims in America.

In 2001 he published the results of the first comprehensive study of mosques in America, entitled The Mosque in America: A National Portrait. (available at www.cair.com). Based on the 2001 study, Dr. Bagby has published four articles, “Imams and Mosque Organizations in the United States,” in Muslims in the United States, “A Profile of African American Mosques” in Journal of the Interdenominational Theological Center, “Attitudes of Mosque Participants Towards America,” in the forthcoming book A Nation of Religions: The Politics of Pluralism in Multireligious America, and “The Mosque in the American Public Square,” in Muslims’ Place in the American Public Square.

In April 2004 he published the results of his Detroit Mosque Study, entitled A Portrait of Detroit Mosques (available at www.ispu.us). Based on that study he has written a paper “Second Generation Muslim Immigrants in Detroit Mosques.” Presently he is working on a book on African American Muslims. He serves on the advisory board of Hartford Seminary’s The Hartford Institute for Religion Research, and is active in other organizations including Interfaith Alliance, Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Muslim Alliance in North America (MANA) and Islamic Society of North America (ISNA).

Fouad Khatib
Member

Fouad Khatib is a well known community activist in the San Francisco Bay Area and a pioneering volunteer for the Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR). For a decade he has served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the California chapter of CAIR. During his tenure, CAIR-California expanded from one office in the San Francisco Bay Area to four offices across the state, adding Los Angeles, San Diego and Sacramento.

Mr. Khatib is an electrical engineer and computer scientist by profession, specializing in energy management systems. He graduated in electrical engineering from the University of Bombay, obtained his master’s degree in electrical engineering from Texas A&M University, and a master’s degree in computer science from University of Houston. A California registered professional engineer, Mr. Khatib works at one of the largest electric utilities in North America.

Mr. Khatib resides in San Jose, CA, where he has been active for over two decades volunteering to build a strong community in nearby Santa Clara. He is a co-founder of the Granada Islamic School of Santa Clara, CA. He is also a co-founder of, and a regular contributing writer for Southern California In-Focus, a community newspaper published from Los Angeles. Mr. Khatib had also co-founded iViews.com, an online news and views site now operated by Islamicity.

Razi Mohiuddin
Member

Razi Mohiuddin is a serial technology entrepreneur and has co-founded numerous Internet and software companies. In 1994, he co-founded Onsale, Inc., (later Egghead.com and now Amazon.com), an online retailing pioneer. In 1995, he co-founded Ambia Corporation, which developed Re:mark, a software product acquired by Adobe Systems Incorporated and is currently the key collaboration component of Adobe Acrobat. In 1988, he co-founded Software Partners, Inc. that developed TimeSheet Professional, a time tracking product currently marketed by Sage Software, Inc. Starting in 1991, Software Partners, Inc. developed numerous products for Charles Schwab & Co. including StreetSmart, the first Windows online trading software, e.Schwab, FundMap Mutual Fund Advisor, SchwabLink Institutional Trading Software and Retirement Planner. Mr. Mohiuddin is currently the President & CEO of a software startup company.

Mr. Mohiuddin is also a well known activist and a community leader. From March 2003 to January 2007 he also served as the President of one of the largest Mosques in the United States - the Muslim Community Association of San Francisco Bay Area, Santa Clara, CA. Mr. Mohiuddin led the mosque at a critical post-9/11 juncture where he created dialog with the wider community, streamlined the organization, grew the volunteer base to over 300 active volunteers, increased the activities many-fold and helped improve one of the most active Muslim communities in the US. Earlier Mr. Mohiuddin co-founded iViews.com (now operated by Islamicity), an online site that strives to add balance and objectivity to an otherwise homogenous media pool.

Mr. Mohiuddin joined the CAIR National Board in May 2007. Mr. Mohiuddin earned his B.S. in Computer Science from the University of Illinois, Chicago.

Nabil Sadoun
Member

Nabil Sadoun (Ed.D) is a national board member of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. He is also a board member of CAIR's chapter in Dallas-Ft. Worth area and CAIR-Texas.

Dr. Sadoun received his B.A in Islamic Studies in 1980, his masters of education in the University of Montevallo in 1988, and earned his Doctorate of Education in Oklahoma State University in 1996. He also obtained training on School facility Planning from Harvard University, Strategic Planning and Management from the American Management Association (AMA) and Islamic Economics from the Islamic Development Bank.

Dr. Sadoun's work experience includes Teacher of Islamic Studies, Director of Religious Studies, Imam, School Principal in the U.S and abroad, Educational Consultant, Strategic Planner, Curriculum designer and Author of Islamic Studies textbooks.

He is currently an educational consultant who works primarily with the Islamic Services Foundation ( ISF ), Brighter Horizons Academy and other Islamic Schools in America and abroad . He is the Director of Curriculum Department at ISF and is currently developing full scale curricula of Islamic Studies and Arabic Language for grades first to twelfth.

Recently, Nabil Sadoun headed and coauthored ISF Publications' Islamic Studies Textbooks series “I love Islam” for grades 1-5 and “Learning Islam” for grades 6-8. These series are implemented in hundreds of schools in North America and around the world.  Currently, Dr. Sadoun is working on ISF ’s next series of Islamic Studies “Living Islam” which is designed for highschool grades 9-12.

Dr. Sadoun's interests also include educating Americans about the true teachings and image of Islam, combating extremism and stereotypes, and promoting an environment of mutual understanding among Muslims and other nations. He is a member of the American Academy of Religion (AAR), Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD), the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), and other organizations.

Larry Shaw
Member

Senator Larry Shaw is a long-standing member of the North Carolina Senate General Assembly and a former member of the North Carolina House of Representatives General Assembly. He also serves as the chairman of the Transportation Committee and vice-chairman of the Finance Committee.

Prior to becoming a public official, Shaw gathered extensive business experience in the food service industry. Since 1974, he has served as the chairman and CEO of the Shaw Food Service Company. From 1988 to 1993, Shaw was the Chairman/Co-Founder of North South Meatpackers, a facility that processed meat for national and regional clients.

In September of 2003, the five-term legislator was elected as vice-chairman of the North Carolina Legislative Black Caucus of the state's general assembly.

Nihad Awad
Executive Director

Nihad Awad is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest non-profit Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization in the United States.

He has been frequently interviewed on national and international media such as CNN, BBC World Service, PBS, C-SPAN, National Public Radio, The New York Times, The Washington Post, Voice of America and Al-Jazeerah. CAIR news releases are disseminated to hundreds of thousands people worldwide on a daily basis.

After the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, Mr. Awad flew to Oklahoma to aid in the relief effort. He personally met with Governor Frank Keating and gave the governor a sizable donation for the victims’ fund on behalf of the American Muslim community.

In 1997, Mr. Awad served on Vice President Al Gore’s Civil Rights Advisory Panel to the White House Commission on Aviation Safety and Security.

In his professional capacity, Mr. Awad has also personally met with former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and current Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to discuss the needs of the American Muslim community.

Numerous law enforcement agencies and Fortune 500 companies—including Nike and DKNY—have benefited from CAIR educational seminars on Islamic traditions and culture. In addition to resolving employment discrimination issues involving American Muslims, Mr. Awad has also conducted over 100 public relations and media training seminars nationwide.

For the 2000 presidential election, Mr. Awad was a key figure in the American Muslim Political Coordinating Committee (AMPCC), an umbrella organization of the largest American Muslim organizations, which helped to create the first Muslim voting bloc for a presidential election.

Mr. Awad is a regular participant in the U.S. Department of State’s “International Visitors Program”, which welcomes foreign dignitaries, journalists and academics who are currently visiting the President of the United States.

A few days after September 11, 2001, Mr. Awad was one of the few American Muslim leaders invited by the White House to join President Bush in a press conference at the Islamic Center of Washington, the oldest mosque in Washington DC.

Mr. Awad has testified before both houses of the U.S. Congress, most recently at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on matters involving Muslims in America.

He has also spoken at prestigious educational institutions, including Harvard, Stanford and Johns Hopkins Universities. He was also a featured speaker at the 2002 Reuters Forum on global cooperation at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism. In addition, he actively works with local and national interfaith leaders and organizations in the interest of promoting positive relations among people of diverse faith communities.

Mr. Awad is also featured in Silent No More by former United States Representative Paul Findley (R-IL), a book chronicling the history of the American Muslim community.

Tahra Goraya
National Director

Before joining CAIR in the fall of 2007, Goraya served as executive director of Day One in Pasadena, Calif., for nearly seven years. Day One is a grassroots nonprofit organization that works to prevent harm to youth and families from alcohol, tobacco and other drugs through education and public policy advocacy.

Under her steadfast vision and leadership, Day One became regionally and nationally recognized for its comprehensive approaches to improving the quality of life for its constituents.

During her tenure, Goraya was directly responsible for overseeing two state bills that were signed into law, six local ordinances and the graduation of more than 100 high-risk youth from an empowerment and anti-drug program. The graduates went on to local colleges and universities such as U.C. Berkeley, Vassar College and Smith College.

Goraya received her bachelor's of science from the University of California and her master's of arts in organizational management. She is also a graduate of the California Women's Health Leadership Program and Harvard Business School Governing for Nonprofit Excellence Program.

Under her leadership, she established the Minority Health Fair and African American HIV Conference in the community of Bakersfield, Calif. In Pasadena, she established the annual Youth Fest, Youth Summit, trainings in Spanish for emerging grassroots Latino leaders. She has extensive experience working with diverse communities and has written a number of articles bringing attention to substance abuse issues.

Goraya is active in a number of social justice, civil right advocacy and women's health issues, and has provided consultative services for state and local governments, faith and community-based organizations, school systems, corporations, and other public and private sector entities.

Goraya served as the first female president of the board of CAIR's Greater Los Angeles area chapter. She was also was selected as the 2005-2006 Fellow with the Women's Policy Institute of the California Women's Foundation, 2005 Women in Business Non-Profit Executive Director of the Year Honoree and 2006 Woman of Excellence by the YWCA.

She was the mayor's appointee for the Northwest Commission, and Taskforce on Nuisance Liquor Stores in Pasadena. She is the Coalition Advisor to the national Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America based in Washington, D.C., board member for the California Prevention Collaborative, and an advisor for Pasadena Forward.

A native of California, Goraya currently resides in Washington, D.C.

Tahra Goraya is the chief operating officer and deputy director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in Washington, D.C. Through her diverse experience in non-profit management, Goraya has distinguished herself as a passionate and dedicated administrator and a visionary for creative community coalition building.

Ibrahim Hooper
Communications Director

Ibrahim Hooper is the Director of Strategic Communications for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). He holds a bachelor’s degree in history and a master’s of art in journalism and mass communication.

Hooper has been with CAIR since its founding in 1994. As CAIR’s spokesman he appears frequently on national and international television programs to offer an Islamic perspective on current events or debate controversial issues.

M. Yaser Tabbara
Director of Community Development

M. Yaser Tabbara, an attorney by profession, is Director of Chapter Development at the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR).

Tabbara was born in Chicago but grew up in Damascus, Syria. He moved to the United States in 1993 where he completed his undergraduate studies in Political Science from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Tabbara finished his Juris Doctor degree from the DePaul University College of Law.

While in law school, Tabbara was the research assistant to Professor M. Cherif Bassiouni, International Law scholar and Nobel Peace Prize nominee. He went on to intern for the Chicago office of the public defender and then the Midwest Immigrant and Human Rights Center (MIHRC) where he initiated the Post 9/11 Immigrant Legal Rights Project, which provided legal representation, outreach and education on immigration law and civil liberties to the Chicagoland Muslim and Arab communities.

Tabbara later coordinated the Legal Education Reform Project in Iraq, where he worked with three main Iraqi universities on updating legal curriculums, rebuilding college of law facilities, and introducing legal clinical education.

Upon his return to the US, Tabbara was appalled by the growing prejudice and hatred against Muslims in the years since 9/11. Tabbara joined forces with his long-time friend, Chicago writer and activist Ahmed Rehab, resolved to implement a precise vision for "a different kind of organization." Together, they helped launch a new era for a Chicago office of CAIR, which had been struggling for the two years since its incorporation in 2002. In a little more than a year, the one-man franchise had blossomed into a vibrant institution that continues to foster cutting-edge professional activism today.

Tabbara served as the executive director of CAIR-Chicago until 2006, when he accepted a teaching position at the University of Kalamoon in Damascus, Syria where he taught subjects related to International Law and International Relations at the college of International Relations and Diplomacy.

Tabbara has received awards for his academic excellence and community service, among them a State of Illinois Proclamation presented by Illinois State Senator Mattie Hunter.

Tabbara serves as board member for the Arab-American Bar Association, CAIR-Chicago, and the Muslim Educational and Cultural Center of America. Previously, he served as president of the Syrian-American Relations Council, and on the boards of the Muslim Bar Association and the Arab-American Advisory Council to the Mayor of the City of Chicago.

Corey Saylor
Director of Government Affairs

Corey Saylor is legislative director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), with more than a decade of nonprofit political communications, legislative advocacy, and media relations experience.

Saylor played a role in advocacy campaigns drawing concessions from corporate giants such as Burger King and Bell Helicopter-Boeing.

His media relations efforts have placed stories in most major national and international media, including London’s Financial Times and Al-Hayat. Additionally, news outlets such as the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, CNN, Fox News, MSNBC and NPR have sought Saylor’s opinions.

The Philadelphia Inquirer named a Saylor-maintained blog focused on the 2005-2006 reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT ACT, a “Web Winner.” His criticism of bigoted remarks by Rep. Virgil Goode (R-VA) helped draw national media focus to the issue.

Saylor has conducted dozens of leadership, advocacy and media training across the United States.