JULY 22, 2021: AABAR & MUSLIM BAR ASSOCIATION OF CHICAGO'S ANNUAL UNITY DINNER

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 An OUTSTANDING turnout for tonight’s Unity Dinner with the Arab American Bar Association of Illinois and the Muslim Bar Association of Chicago! It was wonderful seeing so many friendly faces. Thank you to all who attended! 

 AABAR Board Members celebrated with the Mayor of Chicago Lori E. Lightfoot during an Eid celebration event at Alhambra Restaurant.   

Thank you to all who attended this evening's inspirational Sixth Annual Building Bridges Awards Ceremony with AABAR and the Decalogue Society of Lawyers. Congratulations once again to our outstanding honorees, Jacqueline Carroll and Neda Shaheen, for their efforts in combating hate. View the event below! 

For those interested in becoming a sponsor to Afghans seeking humanitarian parole to the United States, a special Zoom webinar on Afghan Sponsorship was held. This webinar was proudly organized by the Arab American Bar Association, the Asian American Bar Association, the South Asian American Bar Association, Schiff Hardin, and the Chicago Bar Association, and was attended nationwide. Panelists included Vivian Khalaf, Mir Y. Ali, and Mahsa Khanbabai. View the webinar below.

 Thank you to all who joined AABAR for our General Meeting today! We had a GREAT turnout and look forward to our upcoming events. Stay tuned! 

 Excellent presentation by The Chicago Bar Association on Combating Hate, featuring AABAR Panelist Judge William Haddad and AABAR Moderators Donna Haddad and Marvet Sweis Drnovsek. We look forward to collaborating with the CBA on how it can best work against hate speech and hate crime in our community, respond effectively to hate when it occurs, and support groups victimized by hate. 

 Thank you to all who attended tonight! Amazing turnout! The Northwest Suburban Bar Association (NWSBA) and the Arab American Bar Association (AABAR) presented a joint CLE, entitled “Fighting Discrimination: The Arab American Bar Association of Illinois,” with moderator Attorney Matt Fakhoury, NWSBA’s current President Moe Ahmad, AABAR Co-Founder Hon. William Haddad (ret.), AABAR Past President Edward Shishem, and AABAR’s current President Marvet Sweis Drnovsek. 

 A special shout out to AABAR’s very own Vivian Khalaf and Omar Abuzir of Khalaf & Abuzir LLC, Immigration JD. Both were featured in Chicago Kent Magazine’s special issue, “The Shifting Border of Immigration Law.” You make us proud! 

Thank you to all who donated to our annual Thanksgiving Turkey Drive on behalf of Arab American Family Services (AAFS)! We surpassed our goal of raising enough to help 150 families celebrate Thanksgiving dinner with their loved ones. A special thank you to our Sponsors below and all who contributed to this wonderful cause.  

Watch our Thanksgiving Video here, https://business.facebook.com/arabbarassoc/videos/184281283874403/.

AABAR Board Members attended the 30th Anniversary Gala for the Arab American Business & Professonal Association (ABPA) honoring founder Talat Othman. Congratulations to ABPA President Rush Darwish, ABPA VP Vivian Khalaf, and the entire ABPA Board for putting together a wonderful event!

We are proud to announce that AABAR's very own President Marvet Sweis Drnovsek was presented with the 2021 Advocate for Diversity Award at the 19th Annual Unity Gala & Awards Ceremony. The event also honored Emanuel "Chris" Welch (Speaker of the Illinois House of Representatives), Jennifer Gong-Gershowitz (State Representative of the 17th District), Erica N. Byrd (Valentine Austriaco & Bueschel), Hon. Megan Goldish (Judge, Circuit Court of Cook County), Antonio M. Romanucci (Romanucci Blandin Law), Jennifer L. Rosato-Perea (Dean and Professor of Law, DePaul College of Law), and Adam M. Zebelian (Schiller DuCanto & Fleck). Congratulations to all of the award recipients and thank you to Justice Jesse Reyes and the DSF Team for all of the good work they do!

Thank you to all who attended our meeting! A special congratulations to the following 2022/2023 Officers who were elected today! We look forward to an amazing year ahead!

OFFICERS
President Nura Yanaki
Vice President Tony Abou Ezzi
Treasurer Jawad Shalabi
Recording Secretary Mona Naser
Corresponding Secretary Cory Cassis

BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Hon. Samuel Betar
Prof. John Breen
Marvet Sweis Drnovsek
Sandra Frantzen
Donna Haddad
Hon. William Haddad (ret)
Sana'a Hussien
Hon. Rouhy J. Shalabi

ADVISORY BOARD
Khaled Elkhatib
Joseph Homsy
Vivian Khalaf
Anthony Nasharr
Lana Nassar
Reem Odeh