Cultural and Community Center

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it is the ACCC's new Executive Director. She has worked at the Center since 2006, during which time she has coordinated the Arab Women's Conference, the Arab Cultural Festival, and Civic Engagement Mobilization and Youth Empowerment movements, all while pursuing her M.A. from San Francisco State University's department of Arab and Muslim Ethnicities and Diasporas (AMED). As an undergraduate student and a leader of the General Union of Palestinian Students (GUPS) at San Francisco State University, Loubna Qutami was part of the team that spearheaded the realization of the Palestinian Cultural Mural honoring the late Professor Edward Said on the Cesar Chavez Student Center. Her M.A. thesis examines the involvement of U.S. based Palestinian youth in transnational movement-building and challenges conventional discourses on Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities through a critical race and resistance perspective.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  is the Associate Director of the ACCC. She first came to the center as a child when her father took her to Saturday Arabic classes, and she has remained loyal ever since. Inas received her B.A. in Consumer and Family Studies from San Francisco State University and began working as the Youth Program Assistant for the Youth Empowerment and Academic Enrichment Program at the Arab Cultural and Community Center in 2001. She became Youth Program Director in 2003 and Associate Director in 2005. In addition to establishing support groups and clubs for the Arab and South East Asian youth across the Bay Area, Inas organized an after-school tutoring program for children in the Tenderloin and has been integral in producing the Arab Cultural Festival throughout her career.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  is the Cultural Program Coordinator at the ACCC. She organizes and oversees outreach for events ranging from small, in-house concerts to the Arab Cultural Festival. She is in charge of all the ACCC's promotional material and also assists in fundraising. Ruth has a M.A. in Middle East Studies from the American University in Cairo and spent 2009-2010 in Tunis as a Fulbright Scholar. In addition to her non-profit work, she is an accomplished artist and art historian. Her paintings were shown at Espace Imagin in Carthage and are now on display at the US Embassy in Tunis. Her previous work experience also includes editing for a Berkeley publishing house and working as associate producer of television documentaries in LA.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  is the Social Services Director at the Arab Cultural and Community Center. In this capacity, she assists hundreds of immigrant families transition to a new life in America by providing social work services. Vera also teaches English as a Second Language to new immigrant Arab women, facilitates life skills trainings, nutrition and parenting classes, and trains Bay Area health, social, and legal service providers in cultural competency. Vera is also the ACCC's trained and certified domestic violence case manager, responsible for advocating and interpreting for Arab victims of domestic violence, sexual assault and human trafficking. Vera grew up in a small Palestinian village with an Italian-American mother and Japanese step-father. She earned a Bachelor's Degree in Social Work and a Master's Degree in Peace and Development Studies. She traveled the Arab world for many years producing in-depth documentaries for various Scandinavian and European TV stations. Vera is passionate about women's issues, and is extremely grateful to utilize her multicultural background and professional expertise in working with the Arab community in the San Francisco Bay Area.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  has been a Social Services Coordinator at the ACCC since January 2011. Christina teaches ESL and assists in facilitating of other life-skills courses for new immigrant women from the Arab world, as well as performing case management, interpretation, cultural competency trainings and advocacy for survivors of domestic violence, trafficking and sexual assault. Christina graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 2010 with a degree in Peace and Conflict Studies with an emphasis on the Arab World and Global Poverty. In 2008 Christina was a recipient of the Afaf Kanafani Prize through UC Berkeley's Center for Middle Eastern Studies. She served as a Fellow, conducting needs assessments for the Global Micro-Clinic Project, an organization that offers free health care to diabetics in under-served communities in Amman, Jordan. In addition to her work at the ACCC she completed the Asian Women Shelter of San Francisco's Multi-Lingual Access Model (MLAM) Program, and is a language advocate for Arab speaking women with limited English capability. She is also an active member of the Palestinian Youth Movement, a transnational movement to create stronger communication and activism among young Palestinians globally.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it began as Membership and Outreach Coordinator at the ACCC in July 2011. She is a recent graduate of Mills College in Oakland, where she majored in Ethnic Studies and was awarded the Ethnic Studies Outstanding Scholarship Award for her senior thesis on Queer identity in the US Muslim community. In her capacity as a student organizer at Mills, Weyam organized events to raise awareness about issues relating to the (mis)representation of the Arab world and Arabs in the US. Weyam minored in Book Art and enjoys making artistic books which feature themes from contemporary Arab politics and take inspiration from traditional Arab crafts, particularly Palestinian cross stitch.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  joined the Arab Cultural and Community Center in 2003 as a tutor for the After-school Academic Enrichment Program. He has been actively involved in all aspects of the Youth Program including contacting parents, schools, and ensuring that the children receive the academic support they need. Ibrahim received his Bachelor of Science in Agriculture and Engineering and was a teacher in Jordan and Saudi Arabia, teaching Science, Math and History. Ibrahim is an active volunteer at the local mosque and a trusted community member who has built relationships with the parents and families of children who participate in our programming.'

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it is the Arabic Language Program Teacher and Coordinator. Before becoming ACCC staff, Suhair volunteered helping other Arabic language teachers. She became the ACCC's Arabic Language Teacher in 2002, and developed the curriculum for the ACCC Saturday Arabic School, where she teaches Arabic to students at different levels. Suhair graduated from the University of Jordan with an Honors B.A degree in Nursing and Sociology. She taught Arabic to non-Arabic speakers at New English School in Amman for six years.  She also worked with children with special needs. Benefiting from the several art workshops and teaching methods that she has participated in, Suhair mixes Arabic arts, music and culture with language in her curriculum. She believes that students communicate better and learn more quickly when using means other than a book to learn. Suhair looks forward to spending three hours on Saturday in Arabic Class with your kids.