PROJECT AMLE

American Muslim Legal Ecosystem

CAIR-Chicago was one of 21 Muslim-led nonprofits were recognized on October 1st at the final culmination of a three-year program of the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, the Community Collaboration Initiative (CCI), which has helped emphasize collaborations, learnings, and honest conversations between philanthropy and Muslim-led institutions to uplift religious pluralism and institutional change.

 Established by the Waraich Family Fund, Muslim Collaboration Prizes received each mission-focused team's application and were evaluated against a set of criteria by a “blue-ribbon” selection committee of distinguished foundation officers. All teams participating in the Muslim Collaboration Prizes process received the maximum award of $200,000 for their collective goal, based on the quality and depth of the teams’ collaboration.

 Held at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, the day-long event ended with the awarding of $1 million in grants to continue collaboration and success between organizations. At the event, the five teams made up of 21 leaders from nonprofits in the areas of community organizing, national public policy and advocacy, Muslim community centers, health and well-being, and legal.  They had the opportunity to present and reflect on their key findings of the program in the room of engaging key philanthropic leaders across a range of religions and industries.

 The exciting day ended with a presentation of individual grants of $200,000 awarded to each of the five groups.  One of those groups are the Legal Sector cohort, comprised of CAIR-Chicago and the Muslim Legal Fund of America. Outreach Coordinator Gerald Hankerson, who represented CAIR-Chicago in CCI, collaborated directly with Arshia Ali Khan, MFLA’s CEO, in developing a project named American Muslim Legal Ecosystem (AMLE). CAIR-Chicago’s Board Chairman Dr. Mazen Kudaimi also participated in CCI.

 The AMLE project will be a communication and collaboration platform charged to removing the barriers and fear that often leave legal advocates serving the Muslim community competing for the same resources rather than collaborating to drive our collective missions to their highest impact. AMLE will have a self-populating database portal that clearly identifies legal organizations serving American Muslims that will include a Stakeholder Network Map, a National Resource and Referral Database portal (beginning with a local focus on greater Chicagoland) through online and mobile app resources, and produce perennial reports highlighting current gaps in serving the Muslim Americans to improve access and support for their legal needs. 

 Hankerson and Ali Khan will serve as co-directors for the AMLE project. The $200,000 award will fund AMLE’s initiation and development, learning activities and events, monitoring and evaluation, and hiring team members that will work with both project co-directors.  This grant will be for the 2023 calendar year.

 With existing support from philanthropists and major philanthropic organizations including The Waraich Family Fund, The Chicago Community Trust, the Marguerite Casey Foundation, the Butler Family Fund, Tides Foundation, Lever for Change, Penny Appeal USA, and the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, the Muslim Collaboration Prizes will help build the capacity of Muslim-led nonprofits and create a better future for those they serve. The findings of the program were published in a study titled Muslims in America: A Year of Learning For the Philanthropic Community, with the purpose to bridge the gap between Muslim-led nonprofits and the philanthropic community. The full study can be found online at IUPUI Scholar Works.

 To learn more about the Muslim Collaboration Prizes, visit the program’s website.