ACCC | Our Mission Statement

The Arab Cultural and Community Center of San Francisco is a nonprofit organization devoted to promoting Arab art and culture, and enriching the lives of the Arab American Community. We achieve this by providing culturally focused social services, and promoting cross-cultural events to all residents of the Bay Area and beyond.

We draw upon our Arab-American heritage and traditions to guide us in this work.

Board of Directors

Dr. Jess Ghannam - President
Sally Al Daher
Hisham Al Alousi
Dr. Dina Ibrahim
Sana Soudi
Kamel Karajah
Omar Khemici

Board of Trustees

Darwish Addassi
Kamel Ayoub
Jamal Dajani
Salem Mufarreh
Alice Nashashibi
Raja Samara

ACCC Staff

Jittaun Batiste - Bookkeeper
Farah El-Abed- Health Education Program Specialist
Hanien Eliyan- Social Services
Basma Elkarra - After School Tutor
Ibrahim Elkarra - Education & Social Services
Inas Elmashni -Youth Program Director
Nadine Ghammache - Cultural Outreach Coordinator
Christina Khalil- Youth Program Assistant
Amany Ghanem - East Bay Representative
Jennifer Mogannam - Cultural Outreach Coordinator
Loubna Qutami- Social Services Coordinator
Suhair Shami - Arabic School Instructor
Debbie Smith- Cultural Events Coordinator

Past Presidents

Dr. Alexander Kirkish, 1973-1976
Tawfiq Morrar, 1977
Kamel Ayoub, Hon. 1978-1981
Karim Saleh, 1982-1983
Ali Saleh Al Azzani, 1984-85
Pete Zarour, 1986-87
Fouad Mogannam, 1988-89
Mohammad Hijazi, 1990-91
Therese Sabbah, 1992-93
Raja Samara, 1994-95
Suad Cuevas, 1996
Darwish Addassi, 1997-98
Alice Nashashibi, 1999-2000
Salem Mufarreh, 2001-2002
Jamal Dajani, 2003-2004
Amany Ghanem 2005-2006

The Arab Cultural & Community Center (ACCC), founded in 1973, is the largest organization in California dedicated to promoting Arab culture, and a leading resource for services and referrals for Arab and Arab-American communities in the San Francisco Bay Area. The ACCC serves individuals from immigrant communities representing a wide range of cultures, including Egyptian, Palestinian, Yemeni, North African, Iraqi, and Lebanese, and serves more than 6000 people annually. The ACCC employs a staff of 11 full and part-time employees to run its various programs. As a cultural presenter the ACCC is always seeking to be innovative in producing a wide range of events, often in partnership with other organizations, such as La Pena Cultural Center, the San Francisco International Arts Festival, and more. Since its founding, ACCC has brought a steady stream of Arab musicians, performers, filmmakers, and artists to the Bay Area in widely acclaimed public presentations. The organization's annual Arab Cultural Festival is northern California's largest celebration of Arab heritage, with an annual attendance 0f 2,500-3,500. The most recent large scale project was Beyond Walls; Beyond Wars, a groundbreaking 2007 performance series featuring a series of 14 Bay Area performances by local, national and international Arab artists of all genres.

In addition to its cultural programs, the ACCC also provides hundreds of individuals and families in the community with social services such as Arabic language classes, career counseling, after school programs for youth, health and nutrition workshops, free women's ESL classes, cultural competency programs, legal and immigration assistance, and more, working with ACCESS (Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services), Asian Women's Shelter, and the Muslim Community Association and other community partners.