Nadia Tonova serves as the NNAAC Director.  In this capacity, she oversees all aspects of programming within NNAAC, including Advocacy & Civic Engagement, Organizational Development, and the   Arab American Resources Corps, a national AmeriCorps program.  She also oversees NNAAC governance and member relations. Prior to serving in this position, Ms. Tonova led the Advocacy & Civic Engagement program with NNAAC for four years.  She led a variety of policy initiatives, campaigns, and activities pertaining to immigrant rights, civil liberties and human rights, and civic engagement.  She also offers technical assistance to organizations across the country in these areas.  For full bio click here.

Mike Corbin is the Senior Program Manager for NNAAC. He is responsible for organizational development programs for NNAAC member organizations and the support of other ACCESS National Outreach Department programs. Mike has more than 30 years’ experience in volunteer program administration, conference and training management; consulting and youth program management. His career has included a community action agency, United Way, American Red Cross, a faith-based social service agency and a state nonprofit trade association. He has a Master’s of Public Administration degree from Wayne State University.

Linda Sarsour is a working woman, community activist, and mother of three. Ambitious, outspoken and independent, Linda shatters stereotypes of Muslim women while also treasuring her religious and ethnic heritage. She is a Palestinian Muslim American and a self-proclaimed “pure New Yorker, born and raised in Brooklyn!” Currently she is the National Advocacy Director for the National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC) and ACCESS and locally serving as the Director of the Arab American Association of New York, a social service agency serving the Arab community in NYC. For complete bio click here.

Rachid Elabed is the Civic Engagement & Field Coordinator with ACCESS and NNAAC.  In this capacity, he leads all advocacy, civic engagement, and field work within Michigan.  This includes leading campaigns, community organizing, youth organizing and public events.  He also leads ACCESS ACTS, a youth program that fosters leadership through community service, civic engagement, and advocacy.  Mr. Elabed has extensive experience in voter engagement work, including registering thousands of voters and conducting numerous GOTV campaigns, phonebanks and door-to-door canvassing.  Other work includes leading a metro Detroit Census leadership table in 2010 and leading community conversations in race relations. He was honored with the “Michigan Organizer of the Year” Award in 2011.  Mr. Elabed has been with ACCESS’s Advocacy & Civic Engagement program since 2006 and has served as a long-time dedicated volunteer in the years prior.

Ameerah Gillespie is the Online Communications Outreach Coordinator for NNAAC. Her passion for resolving community issues stems from her active engagement as a former award-winning video journalist at both Lansing State Journal and HOM-TV. She has worked with several news stations and volunteered with the Michigan House of Representatives, learning laws and loving people. She received a Bachelors in Journalism and Political Science at Michigan State University (2010)

Arwa Algharazi serves as the Administrative Assistant. In this role, she provides valuable clerical and administrative support to the National Outreach Department and communicates with NNAAC members on a wide range of issues. Prior to working in the National Outreach Department, Arwa served as an Administrative Assistant in the Cultural Arts Department of ACCESS for eight years.

Ghida Dagher is the Advocacy & Civic Engagement Field Organizer with NNAAC. Before joining the National Outreach Department, she received a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, and Middle Eastern and North African Studies from the University of Michigan. The Maize & Blue will forever be her way of life. Ghida is very much a global citizen and has a strong international background. She is of Lebanese origin with a long family history in the West African country of Sierra Leone, where she was raised for a majority of her childhood. She absolutely adores her family’s unique Lebanese-Sierra Leonean-American hybrid culture and traditions. Ghida’s passion for her work is rooted in her background as immigrant. Civil war in Sierra Leone forced her family to relocate and to start a new life in Michigan. She holds ACCESS’ services in high regards seeing as they played a major role in her family’s transition. She considers her return to the organization as an employee “a full circle moment” in life.