Our Team

Mohamed Elibiary (President & CEO) - Plano

Mohamed Elibiary - Plano, TX

President & CEO

me@freeandjust.org

Mohamed Elibiary co-Founded the Freedom and Justice Foundation (F&J) in November 2002 to promote a Centrist Public Policy environment in Texas by coordinating the state level government and interfaith community relations for the organized Texas Muslim community.

In 2005 F&J launched the Texas Islamic Council (T.I.C.) as a subsidiary membership body for Muslim congregations and has quickly grown it to become the state's largest Muslim network representing 85,000 Texans. As Coordinator of the T.I.C., Mohamed has developed working relationships with similar faith-based entities around Texas including the Texas Conference of Churches and the Baptist General Convention of Texas. In 2006 the 16 largest Muslim congregations and civic organizations in Dallas-Fort Worth followed this example by creating a collective representative body called the North Texas Islamic Council (NTIC) and Mohamed was elected to its 7 member executive governing body.

Mohamed has received several awards for various accomplishments, including being appointed an "Ambassador" by the City of Plano and the "Invisible Giants Award" from the National Voting Rights Museum in Selma, Alabama. The "Invisible Giants Award" is a national award given annually to persons who've followed in the tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by getting people registered and voting with past recipients being a who's who of the Civil Rights Movement. While voluntarily serving our country's public diplomacy needs, Mohamed has given lectures to European and Middle Eastern Muslim leaders on improving Christian-Muslim Relations. Several of his interviews about America, the War on Terror and Interfaith Relations have been broadcast in dozens of countries.

Mohamed has written numerous articles published around the country on US-Muslim World Relations, been interviewed on numerous Conservative Talk Radio programs about issues related to US-Muslim World Relations, was recently part of a "Public Voices" documentary focused on repairing the American Democratic experiment that aired on nearly 300 television channels, and lectured before numerous Academic and Civic audiences on Contemporary Political Islam in the 21st Century and US National Security Policy towards it. In the North and Central Texas Region, Mohamed has also served as a coordinator of Homeland Security Community Relations between the Muslim community and the FBI for the past two years. Mohamed has been recognized for his subject matter expertise, community leadership role and volunteer public diplomacy contributions by multiple US Government Agencies including recently as a guest of Secretary Condoleezza Rice at the State Department Iftar Dinner in 2006 and the Whitehouse in 2007.

Mohamed is a graduate of numerous civic programs including the FBI Citizens' Academy, National Sheriffs Association Crime Watch Program, Leadership Plano, Plano Citizens' Academy, Plano Police Citizens' Academy and Plano Fire Citizens' Academy. Something interesting about Mohamed is that he's taught Media Executives from both the major Sunni and Shia Political Parties in Iraq on "What is the Media's Role in a Democratic Society", and has been called a "Verbal Murder" by Mike Savage on his Radio Show for Challenging the President's use of terms such as "Islamic Fascists" in media interviews broadcast globally to millions of viewers.

Prior to co-founding F&J, Mohamed spent seven years in the Banking and I.T. industries with a background in Management and Network Engineering. Mohamed grew up in Far North Dallas attending Richardson schools from elementary to college, and was a starting left midfielder for the UT-Dallas Soccer Team. Mohamed has been married to his lifelong companion since 1996, and they have three beautiful daughters.

Saadia Ahmed - Dallas

Executive Director

saadia@freeandjust.org 

Someone once told Saadia Ahmed that “community service is the rent we pay for our space on this earth”. Those words, coupled with her innate drive to want to help the world, propelled Saadia to share her intellect, enthusiasm, and passion for success in the non-profit world. Her most recent accomplishments can be found as Executive Director of the Freedom and Justice Foundation where she works to enhance the Texas Muslim community’s public policy voice.

Her motivation to work in the nonprofit world can first be attributed to her innate need to help others, which seems to be a trait that runs deep in her family. Also, as the only Muslim through her elementary and secondary schooling, she observed at a young age that people of different faiths, especially the Abrahamic traditions, had more commonalities than differences. She just did not understand why different groups did not unite their efforts to reach common goals. Once in high school, she also began to notice a lack of involvement in public policy by minority communities, so when she graduated Austin College with a Public Policy Degree, she searched for the right venue through which she could get minorities more involved in governmental and interfaith relations. After a brief period with United Way, Saadia began her work with F&J!

Ian Benouis JD

Austin Public Affairs Rep.

ian@freeandjust.org 

Ian Benouis grew up in Hawai'i to a Muslim father and Christian mother. He was confirmed in the United Methodist Church as a youth and converted to Islam as an adult.

He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point and was a Blackhawk helicopter pilot in the US Army. He was a combat veteran participating in Operation Just Cause in the Republic of Panama.

He is an Intellectual Property law attorney having worked at a number of startups and companies having the roles of General Counsel, Vice President of Sales and Vice President of Operations.

He is married with four children and resides in Austin, Texas where he coaches and plays soccer. Next to serving as Chairman of F&J, he is also on the board of Texas Interfaith Power and Light which is part of Texas Impact.

Iesa Galloway

Houston Public Affairs Rep.

iesa.galloway@freeandjust.org

In these capacities Mr. Galloway has lead major re-branding efforts, complete website overhauls, the creation of public service announcements, as well as event planning and crisis communication efforts. He received his degree in History and Public Relations from the University of Houston and is a member of The Public Relations Society of America.

Mr. Galloway is a native born Texan who hails from a military family. He enjoyed numerous opportunities to travel throughout his life. While attending Department of Defense schools in Germany, he has visited Kenya and Hungary during missionary trips, Poland and East Germany while they were under communism, as well as France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Holland and Austria.

Since becoming a practicing Muslim he has performed the Hajj pilgrimage and completed a study abroad program with the University of Houston on the History of Islamic Spain and Andalusian Philosophy featuring an imperial tour of Islamic capital cities in Southern Spain (Andalusia) and Morocco.

He is currently a Public Affairs Representative and Executive Board Member of the Freedom and Justice Foundation, a consultant for The Texas Dawah Conference and The Society for Heart Attack Prevention and Eradication.

Name

Title

Name

Title

Imam Dr. Yusuf Kavakci

Prof. Emeritus of Islamic law, Resident Scholar with Islamic Assoc. of North TX

Sheikh Waleed Basyouni

Imam & V.P. of Clear Lake Islamic Center (CLIC) – Houston, TX, Professor @ AOU

Hussain Kedwaii

Former Ameer (President) Islamic Association of Collin County - IACC

Abbas Abidi

North Texas Community Leader

Ameer (President) of the Islamic Assoc. of Collin County (IACC-Plano Mosque)

Ali Khan

Chair of the Islamic Association of Lewisville/Flower Mound

Ziad Al-Ramhi

Board Member of the Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA)

Nabil Elibiary

Irfan Toor

Longtime Plano based community activist

Rodwan Saleh

President of Islamic Society of Greater Houston (ISGH)

Khalid Hamideh

Spokesman & General Counsel of IANT, Attorney at Law

Malik Sadiq

Corp. VP & Comm. Activist

H. Mustafaa Carroll

CAIR-DFW Pres. & DUMA Board Member

Ziad Qadora; Marwan Marouf; Raed Sbeit

Muslim American Society (MAS) DFW Chapter Leadership

Kassem Elkhalil

Board Member of Al-Hadaya Academy (Fort Worth)

Mohammad Suleman

Past Chair of the Islamic Association of North Texas (IANT) – Dallas Central Mosque

Shaukat Gaziani

Former Ameer (Pres.) of Islamic Assoc. of Collin County (IACC)

Inayat I. Lalani M.D., Ambassador Syed Ahsani

Co-Chairman of American Muslim Alliance (AMA) – Southwest Region

Tariq Yoonas

IANT (Islamic Assoc. of North TX) Board of Trustees Member (Dallas Central Mosque)

Eric "Khalil" Meek

Pres. of Muslim Legal Fund of America (MLFA), President of Islamic Association of Lewisville/Flower Mound