22nd Annual Gala Recap, Thank you for attending!
On behalf of the CAIR-Chicago Chairman, Board, and Staff, we extend our deepest gratitude and appreciation to all of our guests, sponsors, volunteers, speakers, community members, family, friends, and allies for making our 22nd Annual Banquet an unforgettable success.
This milestone event marked 21 years of service to the Chicago Muslim community — and what a night it was!
Couldn’t make it? See the livestream and please continue to support our work: www.cairchicago.org/live
✨ See below for the highlights! ✨
PHOTO GALLERY
Find yourself in our photo gallery! Featuring photography by CAIR-Chicago’s Communications Coordinator Jordan-Esparza-Kelley, Tayyab Ali, and Syed Khalil.
A SOLD-OUT CELEBRATION
A full house of 1,000 guests filled Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace, representing the diversity of Chicagoland and beyond — across faiths, professions, and generations.
We’re so grateful to everyone who joined us in solidarity and celebration!
THANK YOU TO OUR PARTNERS
Special thanks to our partners for helping make this evening possible:
Drury Lane Theatre for their hospitality
A-Alert Security & Investigations (AASI) for their professional security services
Our trusted livestreaming & AV partners — TruFocus Productions and Novatoo Audio Visual.
As ICE and immigration enforcement intensifies, our legal partners with the Chicago United Families Coalition (CUFC), legal advocates, and rapid-response trained volunteers worked closely with CAIR-Chicago to create safety plans and protocols ensuring our community’s peace of mind throughout the evening. We extend special thanks to Pilsen Defense Access, Paula Roa, Esq., the National Lawyers Guild, Robin Potter (National Employment Lawyers Association – NELA), Muslim Bar Association, and Kalman Resnick, Esq. (Hughes Socol Piers Resnick & Dym, Ltd.).
Thanks to Pilsen Defense Access’s Elias Cepeda and volunteers who helped secure the event!
SPONSORS: 35+
We are also thankful for the tremendous support of our key partners from the Chicagoland mosques, coalitions, interfaith groups, companies, law firms, and official sponsors.
FUNDRAISING
Thank you to all of our generous donors who made our fundraising a success. Your generosity and initiative helped us meet our evening's goal: we raised over $653,000! We are $97,000 short of our $750,000, help us reach our goal!
CAIR-Chicago is an IRS approved 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Donations are 100% tax-deductible & Zakat eligible
SPEAKERS & HIGHLIGHTS
Alderwoman Rossana Rodriguez-Sanchez (33rd Ward) — Championing equity and inclusion in Chicago communities.
Watch Below:
Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th Ward) — Advocating for justice and representation for all residents.
Watch Below:
Mayor Brandon Johnson, City of Chicago — Made a special guest appearance, committed to building a city that listens and uplifts every community.
Watch Below:
Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (IL-03) — A strong ally to our community and champion of the Wadee Resolution, which honors the life of 6-year-old Palestinian, Muslim-American Wadee Alfayoumi, tragically lost to a hate crime. She also introduced the Block the Bombs Act (H.R. 3565), aiming to prohibit U.S. arms sales to Israel until human rights violations cease.
Watch Below:
CAIR-Chicago Executive Director, Ahmed Rehab — Highlighting the organization’s ongoing work defending civil rights, promoting understanding, and empowering communities.
Watch Below:
Keynote: Cenk Uygur — Inspiring civic engagement and advocacy for communities nationwide.
Watch Below:
Shaykh Mohamed Abbas opened with a beautiful Qur'an recitation.
Live oud was played during the reception by CAIR-Chicago Special Operations Coordinator, Hafiz, Mohamed Radwan.
Motivational Speaker Imam Hassan Aly mobilized the crowd into supporting CAIR-Chicago’s fundraising goals!
Dr. Mazen Kudaimi, CAIR-Chicago’s Board Chairman, closed out the evening with heartfelt remarks tying our mission and values to the ongoing fight for justice, equity, and representation.
Special thanks to Master of Ceremonies, Arjumand Hashmi Khan, whose engaging presence set the tone and kept the evening’s program flowing seamlessly!
RECOGNITION: 50+
We wish to thank the 50+ public officials from various levels of government for their letters of support of CAIR-Chicago's mission and work, and call on them to raise their voices against hate at home, and genocide abroad.
Mayor of Aurora, John Laesch (center), has been a steadfast ally to the Muslim and Palestinian communities.
Elected officials in attendance included:
U.S. Congresswoman Delia Ramirez (IL-03)
Illinois State Senator Karina Villa (25th District)
Illinois State Representative Abdelnasser Rashid (21st District)
Illinois State Representative Theresa Mah (24th District)
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson
Mayor of Aurora John Laesch
Chicago Alderman Jim Gardiner (45th Ward)
Naperville Councilman Ashfaq Syed
..among other distinguished leaders!
VOLUNTEERS: 65+
A heartfelt thank-you to our 65+ volunteers and staff who made the night seamless — from registration and ushering to photography and setup. A special shoutout to our youth leaders whose energy and dedication were essential to the evening’s success!
OUR 2025 DOCUMENTARY
CAIR-Chicago's 2025 short film highlighted the commitment of CAIR-Chicago’s staff, interns, and volunteers to provide critical legal help, media representation, and advocacy services to communities that lack them but need them most.
The film was produced by the CAIR-Chicago Communications Department and Guclu Koseli with Chicago Visual.
OUR ANNUAL REPORT
CAIR-Chicago has been at the forefront of positive representation and principled advocacy. In our twenty one years of service, CAIR-Chicago has handled 8,299 civil rights cases of anti-Muslim discrimination, negotiated $2.33 million in settlements directly for clients in discrimination cases, conducted 3, 700 mainstream media interviews receiving over 24,200 mentions, & graduated over 1,100 interns. Take a look at our work throughout the years in our annual reports.
MISSED THE BANQUET?
WATCH IT HERE!
If you missed our annual banquet, you can watch the speeches - which were live streamed - here.
We hope to see you next year!