Blog Posts Related to the Arab American Community

Engaging Arab and Muslim Small Business Owners

Roundtable attendees listen as a recent graduate of the Robert H. Smith School of Business at the University of Maryland speaks about the challenges of starting a new business, June 6, 2012.

Yesterday, we had a chance to hear directly from successful business leaders from the Muslim-American and Arab-American communities at a White House Roundtable on the Economy. We were hosted at the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy for this first in a series of business roundtables around the country to gather advice on how to create an economy built to last by supporting small businesses.

The roundtable brought together entrepreneurs from a wide range of professions, ranging from IT specialists, physicians, and pharmacists to hoteliers and realtors—all of whom have created successful small businesses that are driving our economy. The conversation provided an ideal opportunity for Michael Strautmanis, a senior advisor to the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness, and Kassie Lewis from the State of Maryland’s Department of Business and Economic Development to sit down and gather tangible feedback about what the federal government can do to address the challenges often faced by small business owners. For more than an hour we engaged in a frank and practical discussion about the things that small business leaders feel are important, including access to capital, bonding, the need for an educated, skill-based workforce, and the support needed to export their goods to international markets.

Spotlight on Commerce: Dee Alexander, Senior Adviser on Native American Affairs

Editor's note: This post originally appeared on The Commerce Blog.

On December 19, 2011 Secretary of Commerce John Bryson appointed Dee Alexander as his Senior Adviser on Native American Affairs. As the Department’s Tribal Consultation Official, Alexander’s principal responsibility is implementing the Department’s Tribal Coordination and Consultation Policy, per President’s Obama’s Executive Order 13175 (PDF), which ensures meaningful and timely input by tribal officials in the development of policies that have tribal implications.

Alexander works closely with the Minority Business Development Agency and other Commerce bureaus to promote the Secretary’s vision for job creation and economic growth on American Indian and Alaska Native communities. As the Senior Adviser on Native American Affairs, Alexander is housed in the Secretary’s Office of Legislative and Intergovernmental Affairs.

Connecting the Dots

This week I am being recognized as a Champion of Change for my work empowering Arab and Muslim Americans nationally through civic engagement, direct service and advocacy campaigns. Born in Brooklyn, New York to parents who emigrated here from Palestine and attending NYC public schools my whole life, I would say I was an ordinary kid with an ordinary life.

September 11^th, 2001 was the most tragic day our country has ever faced and a day that has changed and reshaped who I am and determined the work I choose to do. In a matter of one day, I went from being an ordinary Brooklynite, New Yorker to one who shares a religion and ethnicity with terrorists. Growing up, my dream was to be a high school English teacher and to work in inner city schools to teach young people how to express their lives, their challenges and aspirations through writing. I hope that I will still venture on this endeavor in the future. 

Two months after 9/11, I began volunteering in the Arab American community in Brooklyn which began my career as a local and national organizer. As the Advocacy and Civic Engagement Coordinator for the National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC), I am able to connect communities to resources and to each other. The National Network for Arab American Communities is a network of 22 Arab American organizations in 10 states, including the District of Columbia. We work to build the capacity of local community based, grassroots organizations so that they can better serve, empower, represent and engage their constituencies in addressing challenges and issues they are facing in their local communities.