Imad Hamad - Regional Director

Imad Hamad is the Regional Director and Senior National Advisor for Public Affairs of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), the premier civil rights organization in the nation on behalf of Arab Americans.  He is a long time community advocate, who has fought for the cause of civil rights and justice. 

Mr. Hamad came to the United States as a student in 1980.  He served the Arab American community in Michigan as a bilingual counselor, social worker and job developer until 1997, when he assumed his position as the Regional Director of ADC. Throughout the years, he has earned his community’s respect and has become one of its rising leaders.   

AMERICAN-ARAB ANTI-DISCRIMINATION COMMITTEE (ADC), Washington D.C
Midwest Regional Coordinator – Civil Rights Leader and Activist (1997-Present)

• Advocate for peace, social justice, and tolerance by building bridges between the Arab American community and ethnic minorities, the business community, and the community at large throughout the State of Michigan and across the nation.
• Oversee the Midwest region’s offices and functions of the premier civil rights organization on behalf of the Arab American community.
• Coordinate investigations for all discrimination related civil rights claims, develop case assessment protocol including interviews, screening, and field visits and communication, and prepare reports and arguments against all types of discrimination and bias.
• Responsible for development for developing and implementing effective crises intervention and resolution strategies.

ADC’s AMERICAN-ARAB CENTER FOR CIVIL & HUMAN RIGHTS (ACCHR), Michigan  
Founder, President, and CEO (2004-Present)

• Founded initiative to build first-ever American-Arab Center for Civil & Human Rights, a groundbreaking structure that will serve as both a physical partner to ADC as well as a state of the art resource center that will stand as the first of its kind not only in Michigan, but the entire United States.
• Directly oversee each stage of development of the American-Arab Center for Civil & Human Rights which will house the Arab-American Cultural Center and comprehensive resource Library as well as all of ADC Michigan’s many programs.  Furthermore, the Center will allow space for ADC to grow in staff and services in the State of Michigan, home to the largest concentration of Arab-Americans in the nation, and will serve as a vital link between the United States and the Arab world.
• Promote initiative the initiative amongst fellow members of the American-Arab community as well as numerous government and public officials.
• Coordinate all tasks related to the physical completion of the center by December 2008.

COMMUNITY INITIATIVES

• AWARE: April 2004-Present, Actively engaged in the formation of Arab American Women Advocating for Resources and Empowerment (AWARE) Initiative of ADC Michigan. The AWARE is a network of women supporting women in order to contribute to the efforts to raise global consciousness of issues and challenges that are particular to Arab-American women and Arab women around the world. In order to achieve its goals, AWARE continually strives to build a local and national support base as well as develop a working relationship in individual leaders and institutions in the Arab World.
   
• BRIDGES: May 2003-Present, Founding member and co-chair of Building Respect in Diverse Groups to Enhance Sensitivity (BRIDGES), along with the former US Attorney of the Eastern District of Michigan, Mr. Jeffery Collins. BRIDGES is made up of the heads of all the federal agencies in Detroit and members of the Arab American community who meet on a monthly basis in an effort to strengthen the relationship between the Arab American Community and the federal government. Mr. Hamad continues to serve as the current Co-Chair of BRIDGES on behalf of the Arab American Community alongside the Office of Civil Rights/Department of Homeland Security.
   
• Annual Judges Night Reception: 2001-Present, Founder and Steering Director of the ADC Michigan’s Annual Judges Night Reception, a prestigious event that allocates and then rewards and recognizes all of the most prominent Judges in the local community.  The purpose of the Judges Night Reception, hosted by the ADC Michigan Advisory Board, is to recognize and honor local judges whose work in upholding civil rights has been exemplary. In recent years, this annual event has attracted various prestigious members of the U.S. judiciary.
   
• Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Program:  2001-Present, Founder and Steering Director of ADC Michigan’s ongoing Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Program. This initiative is designed to provide college funding for Arab American and Chaldean high school students and help educate them about the ongoing struggle for civil rights.  Each year, Arab and Chaldean American high school seniors are asked to write an essay about what the message of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. means to them as Arab/Chaldean Americans.  A panel of educators from area schools then judges the student essays.  Depending on the funding made available from various corporate and community sponsors, the judges select a specific number of students to receive scholarships.  These students are then honored at a community reception set around Dr. King’s birthday. 
   
• Michigan Kids Club: 1999-Present, Founding and Steering member of the ADC Michigan  Kids Club, a project initiated by the ADC Michigan Network and the ADC Chapters across the State of Michigan from Detroit to Kalamazoo, to engage and involved young Arab Americans in the process of shaping their future.  It serves to promote the values of tolerance and diversity and teaches children the difference between right and wrong. ADC Kids works to strengthen the bond between a younger generation of Arab Americans and their national origin and heritage.

In appreciation for his contribution to the cause of civil rights in America he has received numerous local, state, and national awards. Similarly, Mr. Hamad’s commitment to civil rights and cultural understanding reaches far beyond his work at the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee to include numerous appointed positions in other organizations, both private and governmental.

APPOINTMENTS & POSITIONS

• U.S. Civil Rights Commission: June 2008, Member of the Michigan State Advisory Committee (SAC) to the US Commission on Civil Rights. The US Civil Rights Commission is a bipartisan, independent, federal commission charged with the responsibility for investigating, reporting on, and making recommendations concerning, the civil rights issues that face the nation. As a member of the State Advisory Committee, Mr. Hamad will play a vital role reporting local civil rights issues in a national arena including Congress and the President. Mr. Hamad’s appointment serves as uncompensated special government employee for two years.
• 2007-Present, Steering member of the Middle Eastern Census Consultation Group for the 2010 Census
• May 2006-Present, Member of the Board of Directors of the American Friends of Neve Shalom &Wahat al-Salam national organization dedicated to dialogue, cooperation and a genuine and durable peace between Arabs and Jews, Palestinians and Israelis
• 2005-Present, Member of the National Community Response Team, formerly known as the “Incident Management Team for Arab, Muslim and South Asian American Communities,” a crisis response team created by the United States Department of Homeland Security. The National Community Response Team is comprised of leaders of the Arab, Muslim and South Asian communities at the national level to address issues of common interest and concern relating to the federal government and communities at large.
• August 2004, Second appointment to serve on the Michigan Council of Arab and Chaldean American Affairs by Governor of the State of Michigan Jennifer Granholm
• 1999-Present, Founding member and president of the Asian and Middle Eastern Coalition (AMEA)