Masih Fouladi has been hired as the Deputy Executive Director for CAIR-LA. He spent the past three years as Executive Director of CAIR Washington.
He previously worked at CAIR-LA where he served as Advocacy Manager overseeing the Civil Rights, Policy, and Organizing departments.
To read his full bio click HERE. Click the video to watch a message from Masih.
Below are a series of questions re-introducing Masih to our community:
Q: What does a Deputy Executive Director do?
A: The main role of a deputy executive director is to ensure that everything within an organization is running smoothly in the short term and in the long term. At CAIR-LA that could mean ensuring our civil rights cases are being litigated effectively, that lawmakers have an understanding of the most important policy priorities of the Muslim community, or making sure that our partnerships with community leaders, mosques, and partner organizations are being strategically utilized.
Q: What are the two biggest challenges facing Muslims in Southern California in 2021?
A: The Muslim community is so diverse that it’s impossible to identify two challenges that touch every facet of our community. But that highlights one of the significant problems most Muslims face. How we talk about the community internally and externally. As an organization, one of our priorities is being in touch with the community at the grassroots and leadership levels to build a narrative that does the community justice as we continue to grow. Another common issue that is impacting many segments of the community also has to do with our identity and how our youth are engaged within the community. Even before COVID-19, the way Muslim youth interacted with each other, with their families, and with larger segments of the community was changing. COVID-19 has only expedited and exaggerated what many community leaders and organizations had seen in terms of more digital engagement and less in-person interaction. We will have to find both short- and long-term solutions in how we all work and build with one another in the age of social media.
Q: What’s the one thing you wish everyone knew about CAIR-LA?
A: I wish community members knew all of the stories of every client we help within our civil rights and immigration legal departments because it is extremely difficult to communicate the pride, resilience, anger, and motivation that I have felt every day that I have worked at CAIR. I’m incredibly proud of everything this organization does to defend the rights of Muslims and the resilience our community members display when faced with systemic issues meant to derail their lives. I’m angry that these issues continue to occur. But that also motivates me to get up every day and continue to advocate for us. I know that if the community saw even 50% of these cases they would be as motivated to tear down the systems that are oppressing us and building better policies that empower everyone living within this country.
Q: What are some of your hobbies?
A: I love basketball. I spent more than three hours a day from elementary through high school playing. I like watching games and reading about what’s going on in the NBA. I still like to play whenever I have time, as long as the people I’m playing with are older and more out of shape than me. I also love eating 😊. Persian food, steak, and burgers as well as anything with chocolate rank at the top of my list. I’m generally a bad cook, but I’m good at cooking burgers, kabobs, and steaks and enjoy BBQing on the weekends.