University of Southern California

CRCC American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute

About

The American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute is housed at the University of Southern California Center for Religion and Civic Culture and works in partnership with the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim Christian Understanding at Georgetown University. The Institute aims to empower emerging American Muslim civic leaders between the ages of 25 and 40 to help their communities engage in effective civic participation.

History

After spending two years doing research on American Muslims, their identities and their organizations, Nadia Roumani had heard one refrain over and over. Around the country so many leaders in their twenties and thirties were on the verge of burnout. Their organizations were overtaxed as they responded to all manner of community needs. And they were being asked to address pressing issues in isolation from others, without proper training and support.

Nadia enlisted two colleagues, Brie Loskota and Edina Lekovic, to craft a process that would identify a cohort of young Muslim professionals and channel their dynamic, committed, and creative minds to identify new possibilities for the next generation of leaders in Muslim communities.

On July 28, 2006, twenty-two young American Muslim civic leaders convened at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s Pocantico Conference Center to confront issues of common concern. (View the list of attendees.) The women and men around the table had been carefully selected through a nomination process and represented the ethnic, social and geographical diversity of the Muslim communities of America. As the participants shared ideas, stories, disappointments, and triumphs, they developed a renewed sense of community and cultivated a shared belief that their civic work, if strategically nurtured, could lead to a vibrant and civically engaged Muslim community in America.

Eight individuals from the retreat agreed to work together to craft a professional development program that could build leadership in this area. The following individuals developed the seeds of an idea that would become the American Muslim Civic Leadership Institute:

  • Muneer Aliuddin, a community activist
  • Gibran Bouayad, an interfaith leader
  • Tannaz Haddadi, a mediator
  • Dalia Hashad, a human rights attorney
  • Edina Lekovic, a communications professional
  • Brie Loskota, a university administrator
  • Nadia Roumani, a non-profit and philanthropic consultant
  • Khadijah Fatinah Sharif-Drinkard, a corporate attorney

Over the next two years, Nadia and Brie worked to build AMCLI into a leadership development program with the following goals:

  • Identifying leadership needs, human capital gaps, organizational best practices and theological resources on civic engagement in Islam
  • Equipping leaders with practical skills in communication, community mobilization, leadership, policy analysis, advocacy, and organizational management
  • Connecting to a network of civic leaders (Muslim and non- Muslim) across the country and facilitating a forum for constructive intra-Muslim dialogue
  • Guiding the development of projects, partnerships, and resources
  • Sustaining the learning with ongoing opportunities to interact with fellows and alumni.

AMCLI soon found a home at the USC Center for Religion and Civic Culture, and created a partnership with Georgetown University’s Bin Talal Center for Christian-Muslim Understanding. With grant support from the Ford Foundation, the program launched in 2008 with the first AMCLI cohort of 20 fellows from across the United States. Several funders also supported this effort in its first year, including the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Ford Foundation and One Nation for All.

The feelings of isolation and burnout continue for many young leaders, but now AMCLI is an established program that is reshaping the landscape and building communities of trust and cooperation among American Muslim leaders. AMCLI is actively supporting a new generation of leaders who are able to fully engage co-religionists, constituents, and fellow citizens in the work of building better communities for all.

Past Speakers

AMCLI sessions include a distinguished group of lecturers and facilitators. View the list of speakers from the 2008-2010 program years..

Funders

AMCLI is grateful for grant support from the following organizations:

In-Kind Support: