Ismael Ahmed

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Ismael Ahmed
Member of the National Council on the Arts
Nominee
Assumed office
TBD
Nominated byJoe Biden
Director of the Michigan Department of Human Services
In office
September 10, 2007 – January 3, 2011
GovernorJennifer Granholm
Rick Snyder
Succeeded by
Personal details
Born1947 (age 74–75)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
RelationsSaladin Ahmed (son)
EducationUniversity of Michigan–Dearborn (BA)

Ismael Ahmed is an American government official and labor leader who served as the director of the Michigan Department of Human Services from September, 2007 to January 3, 2011. He was appointed by Governor Jennifer Granholm in September 2007. As director of the state’s second largest agency, Ahmed oversaw 10,000 employees and managed a $4 billion-plus budget serving 1.5 million medical assistance cases and 1.2 million cash and food assistance cases.[1]

Early life and education[]

Ismael Ahmed was born in Brooklyn in 1947. He is of Lebanese and Egyptian descent. He moved to Detroit with his family when he was six years old. After high school, he traveled to Vietnam and Korea. He later became active in the United Auto Workers union to put himself through the University of Michigan–Dearborn, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in secondary education and sociology in 1977.[1]

Career[]

After graduation, he began helping out his neighborhood and his community and in 1973, Ahmed co-founded the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS).[2][3] He was appointed executive director in 1983 and was responsible for overall operations of the organization as well as the executive administration of the Arab American National Museum. The largest Arab-American human services organization in the United States, ACCESS has affiliates in 11 states and offers more than 90 programs with more than 900,000 client contacts annually.[4]

For a number of years Ahmed has been hosting his own radio show, This Island Earth on WDET. He contributed a chapter on the Arab Worker’s Caucus in Detroit in Arabs in America: Myths and Realities, Abu-Laban and Zeadey eds. (AAUG Monograph Series #5: Medina University Press, 1975) and a chapter on Michigan Arab Americans in American Arabs and Political Participation, Strum, P. ed., (Woodrow Wilson International Center, 2006).

In June 2021, Ahmed was nominated to serve as a member of the National Council on the Arts by President Joe Biden.[5]

Personal life[]

Ahmed's son, Saladin Ahmed, is a fantasy author.[6]

Awards[]

Ahmed has been honored with the Neal Shine Award for Exemplary Regional Leadership, which is given by the Detroit Free Press and Metropolitan Affairs Coalition.[3] He has also received the Distinguished Leadership Award from the University of Michigan–Dearborn and the Diversity Business Leader award from the Arab American Chamber of Commerce.[7]

Notes[]

  1. ^ a b http://www.michigan.gov/dhs/0,1607,7-124-5459_7097-174062--,00.html
  2. ^ Lessenberry, Jack. "Meet a real American". Detroit Metro Times.
  3. ^ a b "Shining Light awards: From assembly line to Lansing, Ismael Ahmed is a fighter for the voiceless" by Niraj Warikoo, Detroit Free Press, August 25, 2013.
  4. ^ "SOM - Granholm Taps ACCESS Founder to Lead Department of Human Services". www.michigan.gov.
  5. ^ "President Biden Announces 17 Key Nominations". The White House. 2021-06-23. Retrieved 2021-06-23.
  6. ^ "I need a (super)hero". Michigan Today. 2020-07-23. Retrieved 2021-06-23.
  7. ^ "Distinguished Leadership Award," Office of the Chancellor, University of Michigan-Dearborn, accessed December 5, 2015.

External links[]

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