Rami Nashashibi

Rami Nashashibi is a Palestinian-American activist, community organizer, sociologist, and Islamic studies scholar. He founded the nonprofit organization Inner-City Muslim Action Network in 1997, working as its executive director for many years, and has been involved in a number of efforts to improve the welfare of residents of the South Side of Chicago. He has also worked as a sociologist and religious studies scholar at universities, and as a musician. Nashashibi was a 2017 MacArthur Fellow.

Early life and education Nashashibi attended Saint Xavier University for the first year of his university education, where he held a soccer scholarship. After his freshman year he transferred to DePaul University, While working as an activist, Nashashibi continued to study sociology at the University of Chicago, and he completed a PhD in 2011.

Career In 1997, while still a graduate student at the University of Chicago, Nashashibi founded the nonprofit Inner-City Muslim Action Network, which aims to address systemic injustices affecting communities of color living on the South Side of Chicago. He continued to work as the executive director of the organization for many years after it was incorporated in 1997. The Inter-City Muslim Action Network also hosts cultural events, such as the Takin' It To The Streets festival in Marquette Park, and has opened a second chapter in Atlanta.

In 2020, Nashashibi was the executive producer, lyricist, and guitarist on an album, This Love Thing, with fellow activist Drea D'Nur and sound engineer Elijah Hooks.

Awards and recognition In 2009, Nashashibi was named one of the 500 most influential Muslims by The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre and the Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding by Georgetown University. In 2014, the Center for American Progress listed Nashashibi as one of "14 Faith Leaders to Watch in 2014". In 2017, Nashashibi was named a MacArthur Fellow, for "confronting the challenges of poverty and disinvestment in urban communities through a Muslim-led civic engagement effort that bridges race, class, and religion". In 2018, he won the Opus Prize, a faith-based award for social entrepreneurship.