USC Dornsife College Of Letters Arts and Sciences

University of Southern California

Imam Quaiser D. Abdullah, Ph.D., is the newly appointed Director of Muslim Engagement in the Mayor’s inaugural Office of Muslim Engagement. Dr. Abdullah is also an assistant professor in the Department of Communication and Social Influence in Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University. He currently serves as the Program Director for the Master of Science in Communication Management at Klein. His teaching portfolio covers undergraduate and graduate courses in conflict resolution, mediation, conflict within educational systems, interpersonal communication, leadership, and organizational development.

Imam Quaiser earned his undergraduate degree in Political Science and Religion, with a minor in Asian Studies. He then went on to earn a graduate degree in Adult Learning and Organizational Development and a doctorate in Educational Psychology.

Imam Quaiser currently serves as the board chair for Interfaith Philadelphia (2021-2024), co-president for the Association for Conflict Resolution (2023-2024), co-chair for the Mayor’s Commission on Faith-Based and Interfaith Affairs in Philadelphia, PA (2021-2023) and faculty/staff advisor for the MSA at Temple University.

In 2013, SAGE published his chapter entitled “Muslim Leader Formation and Education” under the Religious Leadership project in The SAGE Reference Series on Leadership. His chapter, “Daanaa Abdullah: Exemplar of Community Leadership” was published in Democratic Ethical Educational Leadership: Reclaiming School Reform, in 2015 by Routledge. Imam Quaiser serves as an expert witness, providing valuable insights on verbal aggression and its effects on community trust, during arbitration hearings for disciplined police officers.

Imam Quaiser served as one of the Imams at Masjid Quba for over 10 years until 2024. He has also served as Chairman and COO of Quba Institute, which is a 70-year-old organization which has established social institutions that support the Muslim community in the Philadelphia area. He has served as the conference chair for the Muslim Alliance of North America’s (MANA’s) annual conference in Philadelphia in 2007 and 2008. He previously served on the board of the Association of Muslim Chaplains and as a chaplain with the 18th District in Philadelphia’s Police Department.

Imam Quaiser is the former president/owner of Statera Coaching and Leadership Consulting, LLC. Statera Coaching is a private company that focuses on conflict resolution, leadership development, workforce training and development, professional & conflict coaching and organizational development. He is a certified Conflict Resolution in Education trainer, certified coach, Positive Discipline Educator and a trained mediator in the area of Transformative Mediation, with a focus on family, divorce and custody mediation. Imam Quaiser is also a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10KSB and SBA T.H.R.I.V.E business development programs.

Quaiser Abdullah