Thank You! 18th Annual Banquet Recap
On behalf of the CAIR-Chicago board and staff, we extend our deep gratitude and appreciation to all of our guests, sponsors, volunteers, speakers, community members, family, friends, allies and donors for making our 18th Annual Banquet, and 2nd Virtual Banquet a success.
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 5,000 views at the time of writing.
Executive Director Ahmed Rehab hosted the program - half the length of last year’s- from our headquarters in downtown Chicago. He entertained the questions where have we been and where do we go from here while emphasizing the importance not just of creative bold solutions to problems, but sustainability and consistency in all efforts. “And that is CAIR-Chicago’s promise, delivered on for 17 years.”
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 $272,797.
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 Executive Director Ahmed Rehab, our speakers led us through a night of dedication and ambition. After some motivating words from our keynote panel, 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, US Senator Dick Durbin, Congressman Andre Carson, 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 Panel featured Madhu Krishnamurthy, of The Daily Herald, interviewing Dalia Mogahed of ISPU. They reminded us that Islamophobia is ever present, despite who the president may be, which is why fighting for civil rights is so important. Dalia spoke about the diversity of the Muslim-American community and hope for our future in solidarity.
SPEAKERS: INTERNS AND CLIENTS
CAIR-Chicago's interns and clients also made an appearance at the event. Former interns Josh Davis and Lily McNulty reminisced about their work with CAIR-Chicago. Finally, our clients, Neslihan Donmez, Nasir Ali, and Zoya Shaik bravely shared their stories of discrimination and how CAIR-Chicago helped them find justice.
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 2021 Annual Report is here! This 58-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 17 years, CAIR-Chicago has been at the forefront of change and advocacy. In our seventeen years of service, CAIR-Chicago has handled over 6,200 civil rights cases of anti-Muslim discrimination, negotiated $1.75 million directly to clients in discrimination cases, conducted 1,700 mainstream media interviews receiving over 21,500 mentions, and graduated over 975 interns.