Immigrant ARC Announces New Board Member: Murad Awawdeh
Albany, NY; January 30, 2023 - Immigrant ARC is pleased to welcome Murad Awawdeh to its Board of Directors, effective immediately.
“We are thrilled to have such a passionate and fearless immigrant advocate join our Board and help shape the future of our organization,” said Camille Mackler, Executive Director of Immigrant ARC. “Murad has deep professional and personal connections to the communities that we serve and has demonstrated an unrelenting commitment to defending and increasing access to justice for immigrant New Yorkers over his careers. As the country continues to engage in an ever-polarized dialogue on immigration, Mr. Awawdeh’s experiences and voice will allow us to navigate these next few years and help us build a strong and sustainable network of legal care for immigrants that can be a model for the rest of the country.”
“I am excited to be joining the board of Immigrant ARC, which I have been closely involved with since its beginning days fighting the Muslim Ban at JFK Airport,” said Murad Awawdeh. “I know from first hand experience fighting for immigrant communities what a difference having legal help can make. The system is designed to make those appearing before it fail. Legal help not only ensures that the rights we do have are protected, it also holds our government accountable. I look forward to working closely with the I-ARC team and the rest of the Board as the organization continues to grow and make an impact on New York’s immigrant communities.”
Murad Awadeh is a strategist, organizer, and advocacy expert currently serving as the Executive Director at the New York Immigration Coalition (NYIC). The son of Palestinian immigrants, Murad has dedicated over two decades of his life fighting for low-income communities of color across the State of New York. He grew up organizing to stop dangerous and hazardous developments in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, and engaging community residents to build power and bring transformational change to their neighborhoods. As the NYIC's Executive Vice President of Advocacy & Strategy he successfully led electoral, legislative, and policy campaigns at the federal, state and local levels, and mobilized hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers at demonstrations against anti-immigrant policies. As the Executive Vice President of NYIC Action, the NYIC’s sister 501(c)4 political advocacy and action organization, he has successfully led grassroots electoral campaigns to elect progressive candidates. Murad has been featured in VICE and the Huffington Post, and was honored with a U.S Congressional Recognition, and Public Service Awards from the NYS Senate and Assembly. He serves as a Trustee of the New York University Family Health Centers Board, as a member of the Justice 2020 Committee, and as Commissioner of the New York City Civic Engagement Commission. Raised in Sunset Park, Murad currently lives in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn with his wife and two children.
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Immigrant ARC is a collaborative of over 80 organizations and professional associations providing legal services to New York’s immigrant communities throughout the State. Born out of the legal effort at JFK Airport during the Muslim Travel Ban in 2017, our mission is clear: We are a coalition of immigration legal advocates that works on increasing access to justice and access to counsel for all immigrant New Yorkers.
