American Muslim Fund wins AFP Award for 2019 Outstanding Foundation

On Friday November 15, 2019, American Muslim Fund received the 2019 Outstanding Foundation award from the Association of Fundraising Professionals, Golden Gate Chapter.

Below are the remarks I made:

I want to start in the name of God the most Gracious, most Merciful. I don’t know if you ever heard of this prolific writer named Anonymous who once said ‘Recognition and praise is only as worthy as the one giving it to you.” So thank you, AFP. I want to give a special thank you to my mentors Jack Alotto and Nivisha Mehta for always believing in me and Farhan Latif and Kat Walsh who gave me a chance in development. Thank you Mark Conley-Bucshieb for thinking of us in this award and also my amazing board president Safaa Ibrahim at American Muslim Fund. She is my biggest advocate. Let’s give it up for all the women-led initiatives! In that vein, I want to thank my wife and mother who have always believed in me, and I need to give a shout out to my dad who didn’t understand a non-science career choice but has been proud of me through it all. Yeh aap ki liye hein, this is for you. It’s wonderful to see how we got here today.

I’ve been in this field for over 10 years now and have always raised hundreds of thousands of dollars each year for organizations only to spend the $ quicker than it was collected. Looking at other faith based communities I saw how their foundations were structured and realized that my faith community didn’t have anything similar. However we wanted to flip the script about community foundations. We wanted families to create impact fast, so we spent down cash balances and only now, three years later are investing. We start our Donor Advised Funds at $2,500 because we wanted the average American to have access to this best practice. Our vetting process is more stringent than simply having an EIN or IRS letter. In addition to checking Guidestar or Charity Navigator, we review 990s, hate-group watch lists, speak with boards and staff on how they make an impact before they’re added to our website as an eligible organization.

Having vetted over 230 nonprofits, granted more than $1,100,000, established over 50 Donor Advised Funds, and operate 3 giving circles across the country I want to share that I’ve met fantastic philanthropists and supported amazing nonprofit organizations. You don’t need to be Muslim to benefit from our work and we’re proud to showcase that Muslims care about the local food bank and schools to hospitals and shelters. Research shows that Muslims are just as likely to support causes within and outside of their faith community, with domestic poverty as a main area of focus. With each grant that American Muslim Fund makes, we do it for a better America and better world. 

We have funded families affected by CA Wildfires through the American Red Cross, granted research on mental health issues at Stanford, and donated foot braces for children born with clubfoot. If you know a Muslim, you should honestly tell them what a fantastic job we are doing and how they should support our work. And more importantly as everyone here knows, don’t ask others to support a cause without having supported it first. So you can go to www.AMuslimFund.org to learn more. Be an ally. Wink wink.

The story of Islam in America starts hundreds of years before my parents arrived in the 1970’s with $50 to their name. Social justice and human rights issues never seem to stop, but my hope is that together through our collective philanthropy we can make a difference. As a marginalized and misunderstood community, we are honored that AFP sees through the political and divisive rhetoric. Some of the most famous modern-day Muslims are my heroes like Muhammad Ali and Malcolm X all the way to Congresswomen Ilhan Omar & Rashida Tlaib. The ability to practice our respective religions freely as a country is at the core of being American.

Your fellow Muslims are your doctors, lawyers, engineers, athletes, entrepreneurs, and yes, even fundraisers. We are born here, we immigrate, we are first, second and many generations in. We are black, white, brown, yellow & every color in between. American Muslims are also your refugees, your shared-economy drivers, your hard working, American Dream seeking neighbors. Each day, we work hard for our recognition and appreciate the partners and allies who help create a more equitable and just world for us to thrive in. But that’s not all. We pay it forward too. I want you to remember that the Muslim community may only be 1% of the US population but we are more than 1% of the social impact created. In the Qur’an, Islamic principles guide Muslims to be generous and charitable. Annually we tithe 2.5% of our cumulative wealth in a practice called zakat. Additional support is known as sadaqa. So if Muslims aren’t giving to your nonprofits, let’s talk.

Regardless of your political or religious beliefs, your race or background, you and I are the same. We breathe, we age, we get sick, we live and we dream. Each of us dream to make the world a better place. We all believe in the nonprofits we support and represent. That’s why American Muslim Fund is committed to AFP. And we’re honored to be part of AFP’s story. I want to partner with each of you in accomplishing your missions so that we can all be an example for other communities across the country. American Muslim Fund was born in the San Francisco Bay Area. This award is equally yours.

Thank you for joining me on this peak, let’s climb higher together. In closing, please learn more about American Muslim Fund and how you too can be an ally for good. As our good friend Anonymous once famously said, “You can make up awards, but it’s better to earn them.” I hope you’ll join me today in congratulating all the awardees and by making a gift to the AFP Foundation. Thank you.