Bassem Kawar is a community organizer from Chicago, and currently the Advocacy Specialist for the Campaign to TAKE ON HATE, a project of the National Network for Arab American Communities. Bassem graduated with a B.A. in Sociology from DePaul University, where he was a student organizer. He began his career as a community organizer with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights (ICIRR) and the Arab American Action Network (AAAN), working predominantly in the Arab American and Arab immigrant communities of Chicago and its southwest suburbs. Recently, Kawar worked on Jesus “Chuy” Garcia’s historic Chicago mayoral campaign, and later moved to Detroit to organize with the American Federation of Teachers and the Detroit Federation of Teachers in the rank-and-file teachers’ contract battle with the city. He is passionate about uplifting his community, and believes that organizing and community development are the most effective approaches.
