Biography of Nihad Awad

Nihad Awad is 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.

Since CAIR’s founding in 1994, Awad has worked to empower American Muslims, fight discrimination and foster positive interfaith relations in America.

After the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, Awad aided in the relief effort, meeting with then-Governor Keating and presenting him a sizable donation for the victims’ fund on behalf of the American Muslim community. Awad also spoke out against the false accusations being leveled at Arabs and Muslims after that tragic incident.

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

A few days after September 11, 2001, Awad was one of a select group American Muslim leaders invited by the White House to join President Bush in a press conference condemning the attacks and acts anti-Muslim intolerance that followed.

In 2004, National Journal listed Awad among “people whose ideas will help shape the debates over 10 important issues of the day.”

Awad is a member of US Institute of Peace (USIP) Advisory Committee on US-Muslim world Relations. Awad is the US Representative of the Vatican affiliated International Committee on Muslim-Christian (Catholic) Dialog.

Awad has testified before both houses of Congress. He has met with officials at the highest levels of our government. Awad has spoken at prestigious educational institutions including Harvard, Stanford and Johns Hopkins Universities.

Awad is routinely interviewed by 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.

Awad is a regular participant in the U.S. Department of State’s “International Visitors Program,” which brings foreign dignitaries, journalists and academics to learn about the United States.

Awad has conducted hundreds of seminars across the country, training Muslim communities in communications techniques. He has been a leader in helping Muslims assert their civil rights and their rights in the workplace.

Under Awad’s leadership, CAIR has conducted diversity training on Islam and Muslims for the FBI, Department of Homeland Security, US Armed Forces, several local and state law enforcement agencies, Fortune 500 companies and many other US corporations, including Nike and DKNY.

CAIR regularly meets with law enforcement officials at the national, state and local levels. After the August 2006 arrest of men accused of planning bomb attacks on US bound airliners the FBI invited CAIR along with other Muslim organizations to participate in a joint press conference. In 2003, CAIR officials spoke at a joint press conference with the FBI in Miami urging the community to assist law enforcement in their search for a man on the most wanted list.