Zainab Al-Suwaij is a co-founder of the American Islamic Congress (AIC) and has been its Executive Director since its inception in 2001. In the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks, Zainab left her teaching position at Yale to launch AIC with the mission of building interfaith and interethnic understanding and to represent the diversity of American Muslim life. Zainab has expanded AIC into an international organization with six bureaus worldwide, including the U.S., Egypt, Iraq, and newest location, Tunisia. Under her direction, AIC has trained hundreds of young Middle Eastern activists in the methods of nonviolent protest and social media mobilization, empowering them to challenge regimes during the Arab Spring. 

Zainab has published editorials in the The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. She has appeared on NPR, BBC, Al-Jazeera, CBS, ABC, MSNBC, CNN, and Fox. Named an “Ambassador of Peace” by the Interreligious and International Peace Council, Zainab has received Dialogue on Diversity’s Liberty Award and was recognized as “2006 International Person of the Year” by the National Liberty Museum.  Raised in Basra, Iraq, Zainab fled the country after participating in the 1991 uprising against Saddam Hussein and is now a U.S. citizen living in the Washington, D.C. area.