Islamic Networks Group

Specialties

ING’s mission is to counter prejudice and discrimination against American Muslims by teaching about their traditions and contributions in the context of America’s history and cultural diversity, while building relations between American Muslims and other groups. ING emphasizes the importance of countering all forms of bigotry while working within the framework of the First Amendment’s protection of religious freedom and pluralism.

History

Established in 1993.

ING was founded in 1993 to address the growing misconceptions about Islam and Muslims in the media and general public that increased as a result of political events and issues during and after the first Gulf War.

The organization was founded by Maha Elgenaidi, an American Muslim of Egyptian origin who migrated to the U.S. with her parents at a young age. Before founding ING, Maha worked in the corporate world in marketing and business management. She was inspired to establish this organization to counter the growing prejudice and vilification of Islam and Muslims that she noted had increased in the early 90’s. She herself had recently become better acquainted with her faith and felt the importance of providing that education to others through two means: religious literacy programs and American Muslim civic engagement.

Meet the Manager

Maha E.

Manager

Maha is the founder of ING and author of training handbooks on outreach for American Muslims as well as training seminars for public institutions on developing cultural competency with the American Muslim community. Recently named by the San Jose Business Journal as one of Silicon Valley’s 2010 Women of Influence, Maha is active with many state and federal government agencies and was a former commissioner on Lt. Governor Cruz Bustamante’s Commission for One California as well as the Santa Clara County Human Relations Commission. She currently serves on the California Three Rs Advisory Committee and is an Advisor to California’s Commission on Police Officers Standards and Training (POST) for cultural diversity and hate crime prevention. Maha has been recognized with numerous civil rights awards, including the «Civil Rights Leadership Award» from the California Association of Human Relations Organizations, and the «Citizen of the Year Award» from the Santa Clara County Board of Superviso