About – CAIR Massachusetts

OUR VISION

To be a leading advocate for justice and mutual understanding.

OUR MISSION

To enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims, and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.

OUR PRINCIPLES

CAIR is committed to protecting the civil rights of all Americans, regardless of faith.
CAIR supports domestic policies that promote civil rights, diversity and freedom of religion.
CAIR opposes domestic policies that limit civil rights, permit racial, ethnic or religious profiling, infringe on due process, or that prevent Muslims and others from participating fully in American civic life.
CAIR is a natural ally of groups, religious or secular, that advocate justice and human rights in America and around the world.
CAIR supports foreign policies that help create free and equitable trade, encourage human rights and promote representative government based on socio-economic justice.
CAIR believes the active practice of Islam strengthens the social and religious fabric of our nation.
CAIR condemns all acts of violence against civilians by any individual, group or state.
CAIR advocates dialogue between faith communities both in America and worldwide.
CAIR supports equal and complementary rights and responsibilities for men and women.

OUR PEOPLE

Dr. John Robbins

Founding Executive Director

John Robbins is a dedicated and experienced community organizer, nonprofit leader, and public intellectual. He holds a Ph.D. in English and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Tufts University. A dedicated educator, he has taught algebra to high-risk youth at a public high school in Maryland, English to refugee and orphan children in Turkey, and literature at Cornell and Tufts Universities. His writings have appeared in numerous outlets including Fortune, Time, Muslim Matters, the Hill, the Jewish Journal, the Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, and the Huffington Post. Dr. Robbins sits on the board of directors of Cooperative Metropolitan Ministries, the greater Boston area’s oldest interfaith social justice network.

Sumaiya Zama

Director of Community Advocacy and Education

Sumaiya Zama is an educator, community organizer, youth advocate, and human rights activist from the Boston area. Prior to joining CAIR, Sumaiya was a youth worker for the City of Cambridge, working primarily with children of color from immigrant and refugee communities. She is currently the Programming Director of the Boston chapter of Malikah, a Muslim women and femme's empowerment organization. She holds a degree in Political Science with minors in Human Rights and African Studies from the University of Massachusetts in Boston. She is also a writer and poet, and believes in our ability to teach others and build bridges through storytelling and art. In her spare time, Sumaiya writes and performs poetry at local venues in the Boston and Cambridge area.

Barbara Dougan, Esq.

Civil Rights Director

Barbara Dougan brings over 20 years of experience as a civil rights attorney in Boston. She was formerly Director of the Project to Combat Racial Violence at the Boston Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, representing the victims of hate crimes, police misconduct, and discrimination in housing and public accommodations. Most recently, she ran the Massachusetts office of Families Against Mandatory Minimums, whereas the Massachusetts Project Director her legislative advocacy helped to reform harsh drug sentencing laws that overwhelmingly impacted minority communities. She was one of the organizers of a 9/11 legal response network in conjunction with the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the ACLU, and National Lawyers Guild, where she presented Know Your Rights talks at mosques and developed attorney referral lists and a help hotline. Along with a team of attorneys, she litigated one of the first post-9/11 airline cases (Alshrafi v. American Airlines) on behalf of a US citizen from Jordan. In 2010, Ms. Dougan was named one of the “Top Women in Law” by Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly and has been honored by the NAACP, National Lawyers Guild, Community Change, and Fair Housing Center of Greater Boston.

Nazia Ashraful

Government Affairs Director

Nazia Ashraful is a committed advocate and organizer for minority populations and women’s rights. She was formerly the Legislative Affairs Coordinator of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, where she focused on government relations. She has a sound understanding of the inner workings of the Massachusetts State House and the necessary steps to turn a community concern into a solution in the form of a law on the Governor’s desk. Ms. Ashraful holds a Masters of Public Health from Boston University where she specialized in minority women’s reproductive health, and a bachelor from Drake University, where she was President of the Muslim Students Association.

Board Members

Tahirah Amatul-Wadud is a litigator licensed to practice in Massachusetts state and federal courts, as well as the federal court in the Northern District of New York. Her practice areas are civil rights and domestic relations law. She is general counsel for a New York Muslim congregation, regularly develops and chairs continuing education courses for legal professionals and members of the non-legal community, sits on a panel for her local bar association, and has served on boards for Western Massachusetts non-profit organizations. Ms. Amatul-Wadud is also an appointed volunteer commissioner for the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women; her biography on the Commission’s page can be found here.

Samiyah Diaz holds BS, MS, and JD degrees. Professionally, she practices as a litigator and IP attorney. She is involved with several non-profit organizations, working on governance, compliance, and strategy. In addition to English, she is proficient in Spanish, French, German, Arabic, and Greek. Attorney Diaz is a native of Massachusetts.

Nadeem Mazen is a local business owner, civic activist, educator, and innovator. After moving to Cambridge for undergraduate and graduate work at MIT, Nadeem fell in love with the city and opened two small businesses in Central Square. Both provide community access to cutting-edge technology, services, and job training. Nadeem also holds a faculty position at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, where he teaches entrepreneurship and small business practices to emerging artists. He currently serves as a Cambridge City Councillor.

Sarfraz Nistar is President of CAIR-MA. Entrepreneurial by nature, she has started and managed businesses in the design and healthcare space. Her interests are in civil rights, healthcare, and disruptive technologies. She holds BA and MBA degrees.

The Rev. Corey J. Sanderson is the minister of The Second Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, in Greenfield Massachusetts. Corey is past President and a member of The Interfaith Council of Franklin County and has worked closely with a number of area social service organizations such as The Literacy Project, The Communities That Care Coalition, and The Opioid Task Force. On the state level, he currently serves as the chair of the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ, the largest Protestant denomination in the state. For the past twelve years, Corey has been an adjunct instructor at Northwestern Michigan College where he has taught Philosophy, Ethics, and Religious Studies courses, both in the classroom and online. Corey is interested in fostering a healthy religiously diverse democracy in our country and finding places where the three Abrahamic faiths can work together on issues that affect the common good.

Zahid Siddiqui is a Braintree native working for Pricewaterhouse Coopers in Boston as a corporate tax CPA. He completed his Masters in Taxation from Northeastern University in Boston,MA and his Bachelors in Accounting from Bryant University in Smithfield, RI. He has been working in the accounting industry for over 10 years, specializing on the reporting of business income taxes to regulatory agents such as the SEC and IRS. He serves as the CFO for the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center in Roxbury, MA. He is also the co-founder of the Fasting 5K, a charity run during Ramadan for underprivileged children. The Fasting 5K just completed its third annual run, spans six cities, and has raised approximately $75,000 for various charitable organizations.

Annual Reports

2016 Annual Report

2017 Annual Report