Ahmed ElHattab has been an active participant in the Islamic Philanthropy and Nonprofit sector in the United States since 1978. He joined the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) full time in 1983 for 37 years, where he served as the Executive Director of ISNA Development Foundation (IDF) for 26 years, as well as ISNA Interim Secretary General for several years. Ahmed ElHattab served as the President of the Muslim Arab Youth Association (MAYA) in US for two terms (86-87). He also has been the Treasurer of the Board of Trustees of the American Islamic College in Chicago (AIC) since 2013. Ahmed ElHattab currently is the Director of Development at Sterling Charitable Gift Fund (SCGF) and the Center for Islam in the Contemporary World (CICW) at Shenandoah University. He also is a member of the Board of Directors of North American Imam Federation (NAIF), and a member of the Advisory Council of the Council of Islamic Schools in North America (CISNA), and a member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Appropriate and Immediate Temporary Help (FAITH), and he recently joined the Board of Directors of the Weekend Islamic Schools Educational Resources (WISER) and the Steering Committee of the Global association of Islamic Schools (GAIS).

Amal Sakr Elhoseiny received her Ph.D. degree in Comparative Studies of the German and Arabic languages, and literature from Cairo University in Egypt. She worked as a lecturer at the College of Education in Ain-Shams University. From 2000 to the present, she works as an Arabic teacher at New Horizon School, Pasadena. In 2010, she became Nuraniyah Method certified and started teaching Qur’an at the same school. She is also the head teacher of Arabic, Qur’an, and Islamic studies at the Sunday School at the ICSC. She presented in different conferences. She designed standards-based activities for Qatar Foundation International and the BIAE. She participated as a master Arabic teacher in the Aldeen Foundation/ Startalk Student program and in the Aldeen Online Teacher Training program. With Hadi/Startalk, she taught Arabic virtually to high school and college students. She is an executive board member of the National Arabic Teachers Association (K-12). She conducted a workshop for teachers of Arabic in Tamarac/Florida and a Nuraniyah workshop for teachers in Orange Crescent School in California. Last year, she supervised a student-teacher’s training for an Arabic teacher from the Teacher Preparation Program at National University. Working together with other instructors to enhance teaching of Arabic and Qur’an is her goal.  

Samar Dalati Ghannoum is an award-winning, California-based foreign language instructor and curriculum developer who currently serves as a professor at University of Redlands in the International Relations, History and Theology departments and a Sunday School instructor/curriculum developer at the Islamic Center of Southern California (ICSC). Samar began her career as an Arabic Language Arts and Literature professor at Damascus University, where she earned a B.A. in the field of Arabic Language and Arts. She went on to obtain an M.A. in the field of education and was further credentialed in the field of psychology. Samar is accomplished as a national foreign conference presenter with multiple appearances from 2004 to present. As a current executive board member of the National Arabic Teachers Association (NATA), Youth United Purpose – (YUP Foundation), and Weekend Islamic School Education Resources (WISR). Additionally, she is a board member of the Arab – American Press Guild (AAPG) and a member of the American Consulate of Teaching Foreign Language (ACTFL). Samar keeps up to date on the latest training techniques and studies applicable to Arabic language instruction. She is also a board advisor for the Society of Egyptian Americans, a founding member of Syrian American Ladies Aiding Mothers (SALAM), and a formal volunteer and representative at NISWA. 

Thouraya Boubetra served as the Director of the Online Arabic Education Program at Aldeen Foundation from 2010 to 2018 and was the online coordinator for the Aldeen/STARTALK summer program. She is also the executive editor for the quarterly newsletter of the National Arabic Teachers Association (NATA). Thouraya graduated from Algeria University with a degree in Arabic Language and Literature and worked as a journalist in a daily and weekly newsletter. Upon moving to Southern California, Thouraya worked as a teacher at New Horizon School, where she taught Arabic, French and Quraan. Thouraya also worked with the Bureau of Islamic and Arabic Education (BIAE) to improve Arabic language teaching by preparing supplementary material for teachers. Thouraya also serves on the Board of Directors of Aldeen Foundation and she is an active board member in several educational and non-profit organizations. She is serving currently as an executive committee member of the Arabic Teacher Council of Southern California. Thouraya has been the representative of the Arabic language track in ISNA education forum since its inception.

Dahlia Hamdi holds a B.S. in Childhood and adolescent development from California State University, Fullerton. She is currently pursuing a Master’s in Education with a concentration in Elementary Curriculum and Instruction, expected in 2022. She has studied Islamic Studies with International Open University. She has taught and directed AIM weekend School at the Islamic Center of Irvine since its inception in 2013 through the 2021 school year. Dahlia is dedicated to ensuring her curriculum is relevant, engaging, enriching, and inspiring to students’ lives. By valuing students’ unique backgrounds, knowledge, and assets, she creates an enriching classroom environment in which diversity positively impacts the learning process.

Adita Arya holds an MA in Islamic Studies and Leadership from Bayan Claremont and is President and Cofounder of Afghan Literacy Foundation and also Founder of AIM weekend School in Irvine, CA. She obtained her Masters in Educational Leadership from Walden University and her Bachelors in biology from California State University Domínguez Hills. She has always been passionate about education, so for the past 14 years Adita has been engaged in teaching, directing, and developing curriculum at Islamic Schools throughout the United States and empowering children’s education for the underprivileged in Afghanistan. She is the president and co-founder of Afghan Literacy Foundation, an organization that prevents children from being forced into child labor in Afghanistan and provides them monetary support to attend school instead. As founder of AIM in 2013 she created and proposed a weekend school model for the Islamic Center of Irvine. Prior to that, she directed Pillars Academy Islamic School.

Shahida Alikhan started her career as an educator in the US at Francis Parker, an independent school in Chicago. With her move to Los Angeles she joined New Horizon School. She was soon promoted to be the principal of the school where she served for 26 years, simultaneously working as the principal of the Sunday School for 11 years. She served as the Professional Development Coordinator at Aldeen Foundation for 21 years. She retired in 2014 to spend time with her family. In 2019, she rejoined the Educational field as part time Administrator at CORE Academy. She has served on several visiting teams to accredit schools for CAIS and WASC. She has presented papers at different conferences including ISNA Education Forum and WCIEF, of which she has been the planning committee member since its inception. She is the recipient of New Horizon School Appreciation Award and ISNA Lifetime Achievement Award for her commitment to Islamic Education in America.