Thank You! 2021 Banquet Recap
THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING US
On behalf of the CAIR-Chicago chairman, board and staff, we extend our deep gratitude and appreciation to all of our guests, sponsors, volunteers, speakers, community members, family, friends, and allies for making our 17th Annual Banquet, and 1st Virtual Banquet: Reimagining Justice an inspirational and successful night.
WATCH IT HERE
If you missed the live broadcast on our webpage, Facebook, and Youtube, you can still view it here or by clicking on the image below.
VIEWERSHIP
We missed our usual packed banquet hall and seeing our community in person, nonetheless our virtual banquet broadcast on multiple platform and pages received over 6,000 views at the time of writing.
SPONSORS
We are also thankful for the tremendous support of our key partners from the Chicagoland mosques, coalitions, interfaith groups, companies, law firms, and official sponsors.
FUNDRAISING
Thank you to all of our generous donors who made our fundraising a success. We've collected $277,600 out of $300,000.
Sheikh Kifah Mustapha said it better than we could: “There are hundreds of masajid and relief groups, but there is only one organization that provides pro-bono legal support to our Muslim community at large, we support them so they can support us.”
CAIR-Chicago is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Donations are 100% tax-deductible & Zakat eligible
SPEAKERS & HIGHLIGHTS
This year, our speakers truly showed us how perseverance helps us stay hopeful during a pandemic. Moderated by Dr. Aisha El Amin, our speakers led us through a night of dedication and ambition. After some motivating words from Executive Director Ahmed Rehab, the event closed with some words of faith by Dr. Mazen Kudaimi.
SPEAKERS: ELECTED OFFICIALS
We were also proud to host a plethora of elected officials throughout the night, including Governor JB Pritzker, Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, US Senator Dick Durbin, Congresswoman Marie Newman, Congressman Chuy Garcia, Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib. They all shared their support of CAIR-Chicago and the Muslim community & vowed to stand with us in defending the civil rights of all marginalized communities despite a presidential shift.
SPEAKERS: KEYNOTES
Our Keynote Speaker, Sheikh Khalid Latif reminded us that Islamophobia is ever present, despite who the president may be, which is why fighting for civil rights is so important. He spoke about justice, hope, and community. He ended the night inspiring the community to take an active role in 2021. Dr. Dalia Fahmy gave an informative speech on the institutionalized Islamophobia pervasive in American life. She closed by teaching us how community and solidarity help fight it from the grassroots to policy levels.
SPEAKERS: PARTNERS
Partners, including Sh. Jamal Said of The Mosque Foundation, Ed Yohnka of ACLU-IL, Dilara Sayeed of Illinois Muslim Civic Coalition, Abdullah Mitchell of Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, Kalman Resnick of Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd, & and Ben Rhodes Lake Forest College described how we work together in solidarity to defend the Muslim community.
SPEAKERS: INTERNS AND CLIENTS
CAIR-Chicago's interns and clients also made an appearance at the event. Former interns Chris Nevarez-Azdar and Giuliana Nicolucci-Altman reminisced about their work with CAIR-Chicago, both in-person and virtually. Finally, our clients, Dr. Mohamed Hasan and Dima Ali, bravely shared their stories of discrimination and how CAIR-Chicago helped them find justice.
You can learn more about our official speakers here!
RECOGNITION
We wish to thank the 40+ Elected officials, including both Governor JB Pritzker and Lieutenant Governor Juliana Stratton, Mayor Lightfoot, US Senator Dick Durbin, and a number of state, city, and county officials who sent us letters of support this year.
OUR ANNUAL REPORT
Our official 2020 Annual Report is here! This 63-page report--lauded by guests as the best designed report to date, made by Communications Coordinator Saadia Pervaiz--details the work of each department at CAIR-Chicago and some of our highlights and accomplishments over the past twelve months. For 16 years, CAIR-Chicago has been at the forefront of change and advocacy. In our sixteen years of service, CAIR-Chicago has handled over 6,175 civil rights cases of anti-Muslim discrimination, negotiated $1.75 million directly to clients in discrimination cases, conducted 1,650 mainstream media interviews receiving over 21,000 mentions, and graduated over 930 interns.