2010 Conference Overview

Theme: “Charting the Landscape”

Saturday October 30, 2010
9 AM to 5 PM (EST)

Hyatt Regency
Two Albany Street,
New Brunswick, NJ – 08901

Tel: +1 (888) 421-1442 or
+1 (732) 873-1234

AMCC has arranged special rate with Hyatt Hotel for delegates. To book online please use this link:
https://resweb.passkey.com/Resweb.do?mode=welcome_ei_new&eventID=2495744

Hyatt Hotel is conveniently located 2 blocks from New Brunswick train station. New Brunswick is located on North East Corridor line and a train runs every 15 minutes from New York Penn Station during peak hours and every 30 minutes during offpeak hours. It is only a 50 minute train ride from New York Penn Station.

Interested in sponsoring our event? Check out the Sponsorship Packet for more information.

Speakers

P. Miles Young

CEO, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide

Miles Young was educated at Bedford School and New College, Oxford. His career in advertising has spanned Lintas, Allen Brady & Marsh and Ogilvy & Mather, which he joined in 1983.

Miles was appointed to the Board of Ogilvy & Mather Advertising in London in 1986 and Client Services Director in 1988. In February 1990, he became Managing Director of Ogilvy & Mather Direct in London. He was a Regional Director of Ogilvy & Mather Direct Europe from 1990 to 1995.

From 1994 to 1995, he had the additional responsibility of setting up and running the IBM account in Europe which had previously been held by some 40 separate agencies. This included setting up a dedicated service hub in Paris for both advertising and direct marketing; and Miles has lectured and written widely on the subject of integrated marketing, a special interest.

In September 1995, he moved to Hong Kong to take up the position of Chairman of Ogilvy & Mather Asia Pacific, and serves on the Board and Executive Committee of Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide. During this period, Ogilvy & Mather grew significantly in size and market share, and was repeatedly acknowledged as “Agency of the Year” by Media magazine.

He represented WPP’s corporate interests in Asia, in addition to his Ogilvy responsibilities.

James A. Kocsi

District Director, U. S. Small Business Administration

James A. Kocsi is the district director of the U.S. Small Business Administration’s (SBA) New Jersey district office located in Newark, NJ.  Under his leadership, the New Jersey district office has consistently provided record levels of support to the small business community.  In Fiscal Year 2009, the office approved 1,117 loans for $338 million to New Jersey small business owners.  The office also provided small disadvantaged companies with federal contracts valued at $108 million under the agency’s 8(a) Business Development program.

Mr. Kocsi is responsible for directing SBA’s efforts to assist the 778,000 small businesses in New Jersey with the agency’s financial and business development programs.  He also has oversight responsibilities for eleven Small Business Development Centers administered by Rutgers University, the Women’s Business Center of NJ and nine chapters of SCORE – Counselors to America’s Small Business, a volunteer organization that provides free business counseling.

Steven Pilchak

General Manager, Best Buy

Steven Pilchak is a General Manager for Best Buy in Dearborn, Michigan.  Throughout the past ten years, he has served in numerous capacities.  As a General Manager, he has been very passionate around the diversity and inclusion of the Muslim culture within his community.  Steven’s focus has centered around finding ways to better serve both the Muslim customer and the Muslim community of southeast Michigan, and have led to  partnerships with the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee and the Lebanese American Heritage Club.   Additionally, Steven serves on a team focused on business partnerships in the Midwest, and he attended Eastern Michigan University where he studied Marketing and Advertising.

Tariq Farid

Founder & CEO, Edible Arrangements International, Inc.

Tariq launched the first Edible Arrangements® store in 1999 in East Haven, Connecticut.  He was inspired by the convergence of three trends: Americans’ growing consumption of fresh fruit, the robust growth in the specialty food market and the increasing amount of money Americans were spending on gifts. Edible Arrangements® was named one of America’s fastest-growing privately held businesses in America by Inc. magazine and one of the top franchise systems in Entrepreneur Magazine’s Franchise 500. Tariq has four pending U.S. patents for proprietary fruit-cutting equipment that he designed.

In February of 2009, Tariq was named “Entrepreneur of the Year” by the International Franchise Association, whose members include more than 1,300 franchise systems, 11,000 franchisees and 500 suppliers.  This award is presented to an individual who is building a successful business venture, demonstrates innovative management skills and is active in the community.

In June 2009 Tariq was awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year^® 2009 Award in the Retail and Consumer Products category in Metro New York.  This award recognizes entrepreneurs who are building and leading dynamic, growing businesses and who demonstrate exceptional innovation, financial performance and personal commitment to their businesses and communities.

Magali Rheault

Senior Analyst, Gallup Center for Muslim Studies

Magali Rheault is a Senior Analyst with the Gallup Center for Muslim Studies. Ms. Rheault is a regular speaker at international conferences, symposia, and other events on issues of Muslim-West relations, governance, peace and security, and public diplomacy. She briefs opinion leaders and policy makers on Gallup research and has lectured at a wide variety of institutions in the U.S. and Europe.

In addition, Ms. Rheault is a Senior Consultant with the Gallup World Poll, a multi-year research initiative to survey public views and attitudes in more than 150 countries and areas. She focuses on the intersection of governance, job creation, entrepreneurship, and development in sub-Saharan Africa and the Maghreb.

Ms. Rheault is a member of the Club de Madrid’s Shared Society working group which informs world leaders and policy makers about the connections between social cohesion, pluralism, and economic growth around the world. Her research has appeared in a variety of publications, including Harvard International Review. Ms. Rheault also serves as a scientific committee member for Awraq, a journal that analyzes contemporary issues in Arab and Muslim countries.

Prior to joining Gallup, Ms. Rheault worked as a researcher in the financial services industry. Before moving to the United States, Ms. Rheault lived in France, where she studied urban development and land issues pertaining to the Maghreb and West Africa. She received a bachelor’s degree in urban planning from the Université d’Aix-Marseille and a master’s degree in geography from the Université d’Avignon. Ms. Rheault speaks English, French, and Spanish.

Adnan Durrani

Chief Halal Officer, American Halal Co. Inc.

Mr. Durrani is currently Chief Halal Officer (CHO) and CEO of American Halal Co, Inc ( www.americanhalal.com) —which markets the  Saffron Road brand line of organic and all natural halal cuisine. Saffron Road is the first halal product to be sold nationally in the Whole Foods chain. He is also President of Condor Ventures, Inc. Mr. Durrani is a serial entrepreneur. He was the founder of Vermont Pure Holdings/Crystal Rock Water Co. (now the 2^nd largest bottled water company in the Northeast ) as well as being a principal financial partner of Stonyfield Farms Inc, with over $300 million in sales, whose private sale he led to Dannone, SA in 2003. He was also a principal of Delicious Brands, Inc— in which Carl Icahn financially backed Mr.Durrani to bulid Delicious into the 5^th largest cookie brand in US.

He is one of the entrepreneurs and venture investors who for the past 25 years promoted social finance as a way to change the way the world does business, being cited by SVN as a leaders of one of  “20 Ideas That Changed The Way The World Does Business”. The select list of these inductees by BBMG include: Ben Cohen (Ben & Jerry’s), Gary Hirshberg (Stonyfield Farms), Eileen Fisher, Yvonne Chovinard (Patagonia), Mohammed Younes (Nobel Peace Prize, Grameen Bank), Horst Rechelbacher (Aveda), and Steve Case (AOL, Revolution Ventures). He also served on the Board of Social Venture Network (SVN or www.svn.org ).

Furthermore, Mr. Durrani sits on the Board of the Graduate School of Engineering and Applied Sciences of Columbia University, where he is also Chairman of the Entrepreneurial Advisory Board.. Mr. Durrani received an undergraduate degree in electrical engineering and economics from Columbia University. He is also a Charter Member of the American Institute of Islamic and Arabic Studies.  He often lectures on Islam and remains active in facilitating interfaith forums in New York City and Connecticut area synagogues, churches, and mosques. Most recently, he has been  invited by the Vatican and Ambassador to the Holy Sees(www.vatican.va ) to  be a speaker on Interfaith In Business in October, 2010, at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, Italy.

Jack Acree

Executive Vice President, American Halal Co, Inc.

Jack is the Executive Vice President of the American Halal Co, Inc, and is leading the sales, marketing, and strategic launch of its Saffron Road brand.  Mr. Acree is an accomplished food executive, having successfully built two of the fastest growing startups in the natural foods business which now deliver well over $50 million in sales – Terra Chips^® (Hain Foods) and Alexia Foods^® (ConAgra Foods), each were sold to Hain and ConAgra, respectively, at exceptional returns to investors. He brings an aggressive and adaptive approach to  Saffron Road’s  brand’s marketing and sales efforts due to his extensive experience with both direct customer and broker management for multiple channels of trade, including natural foods supermarkets (both direct and through natural channels), super centers, route service, foodservice and club.

Jack was at Alexia Foods from inception as Director of Sales. His team built Alexia’s sales to over $75 million today with over 26 products. Alexia Food was sold to ConAgra Foods in 2007. While at Alexia in 2002, Jack was able to immediately secure shelf space and for this start-up brand into 5,000 stores – in such top-tier chains as Whole Foods, Publix, Stop & Shop, Shoprite, Shaw’s, Wegmans, and Wal-Mart. At Terra Chips, Jack was part of the original founding member executive team, where he built and scaled five broad channels of distribution for this niche start up: independent routes, gourmet shops natural stores, supermarket chains and food service (hotels, restaurants). Today, Terra Chips is owned by Hain foods and generates over $50 Million in sales.

Joohi Tahir

VP Marketing & Sales, Crescent Foods

Joohi Tahir was born and spent her early childhood in London, England.  After immigrating to the US with her family in 1980, she settled and was educated in Boston, MA.  Graduating with honors with a degree in Business from Boston University, Joohi pursued extensive coursework concentrating in Marketing.  She was the recipient of the esteemed Alfred Baumburg Memorial Scholarship Award and played an active leading role in the founding chapter of the National Business Fraternity, Delta Sigma Pi.

Over the span of her 16 year career, Joohi has had vast exposure in the field of Marketing across a wide variety of industries.  Among these, Retail Buying, Strategic Market Planning & Research, Catalog Brand Management, Sales & Sales Training and Customer Loyalty & Retention.  From 1993 to 1999, at Spiegel, Inc., known for their catalog expertise at the time, Joohi developed market positioning strategies and led a team approach to always advocate as the voice of the customer.  She currently lives in Naperville, IL with her husband and three daughters.

Nazia Hussain

Director of Cultural Strategy, Ogilvy & Mather Worldwide

Nazia joined Ogilvy & Mather to set up the company’s offer in Cultural Strategy in 2008. She had worked in Dhaka, Dubai, Istanbul, Moscow and Shanghai by the time she joined Ogilvy & Mather in London. Prior to Ogilvy she had been at Added Value, JWT, and The Brand Union.

Cultural Strategy at Ogilvy is a global consulting practice that provides insight into the deeper cultural contexts behind consumer choices in order to develop stronger and more resonant communications strategies for brands. Believing that there are no global consumers, only global brands, Nazia’s focus is on unpacking the cultural contexts that inform peoples’ consumption behaviour the world over. Her clients have included the Coca-Cola Company, Unilever, Nestlé, British Airways, Pernod Ricard, Diageo, Reckitt Benckiser and SAB Miller.

Nazia is also Head of Strategy at Ogilvy Noor, the world’s first Islamic Branding consultancy, a practice that helps brands effectively engage with Muslim consumers everywhere. With Muslim roots herself and a global outlook, Nazia is perfectly placed to advise on the rise of the today’s generation of connected and consumption-savvy Muslim youth. She is lead author of the cornerstone Ogilvy Noor study ‘Brands, Islam and the New Muslim Consumer’.

Born in Bangladesh, Nazia grew up in Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong before graduating from Oxford with a First in English. Her passion for China then led her to an MPhil in Chinese Art, Literature and Cultural Anthropology, during which time she lived in Beijing and became fluent in Mandarin. Nazia uses her interest in people and cultures to inform all aspects of her work as a cultural consultant in the marketing and communications industry. She is a regular speaker at conferences worldwide.

Faran Tahir

Pakistani/American Actor

Faran Tahir is a third generation Pakistani/American actor who has shown his talents equally in film, television and theater. His most recent film credits include the vicious villain, Raza, in the 2008 Marvel live action blockbuster, Iron Man, starring alongside Robert Downey Jr., Jeff Bridges, Gwyneth Paltrow and Terence Howard. In 2009, he followed the success of Iron Man with another super hit, Star Trek, as the dashing and heroic Federation Captain. The casting marks a historic moment in the Star Trek saga and for him as well. He played the first Federation Captain of South Asian/Middle Eastern ethnicity. Tahir’s vast television resume includes over 40 television appearances. He has been seen as guest leads in notable shows like Lost, Chuck, NYPD Blue, NCIS, NCIS- Los Angeles, Cold Case, The West Wing, Warehouse 13 etc.

He recently appeared in a much acclaimed episode of Grey’s Anatomy where he was given a chance to create a complex and multi layered character facing possible death or amputation due to a large tumor in his spine. The character not only dealt with a man’s courage and emotional drama but also gave a window into a Muslim immigrant’s personal, social and political sacrifice. He received a “Voices of Courage and Conscience Award” from the Muslim Public Affairs Council for his character portrayal. He was submitted by ABC network for a 2010 Emmy Award consideration for his work on Grey’s Anatomy. A thespian at heart, Tahir has worked off-Broadway and in many top regional American theatres including Lincoln Center, Manhattan Theatre Club, American Repertory Theatre, and Goodman Theatre.

He has over 50 theatrical productions to his name ranging from classical to contemporary. This year he can be seen as leads in three upcoming films, Ashes, Two Mothers and Jinn. He was the recipient of 2010 Anokhi’s Male Actor of the Year award in Canada as well as the 2010 Elite Asian Award. Tahir completed his graduate training in theatre at Harvard University and holds a B.A. from University of California, Berkeley.

Dr. Mehmood Khan

Sr. Vice President & Chief Scientific Officer, PepsiCo, Inc.

Mehmood Khan, M.D., F.A.C.E., is SVP and Chief Scientific Officer of PepsiCo, Inc., where he is responsible for guiding the company’s long-term research strategy and agenda for business opportunities.  He provides global leadership and support to division research and development groups in the areas of enterprise research planning, R&D portfolio management, next generation technologies, nutritional standards, food safety and regulation, and quality assurance.

Prior to joining PepsiCo in 2007, Mehmood served as President of Takeda Global Research & Development Center, Inc (TGRD). In this role, Dr. Khan led all aspects of TGRD’s business, in both its Deerfield and U.K. Offices, including developing new product candidates, conducting post-marketing clinical studies and identifying and developing innovative lifecycle management approaches for marketed drugs.  He was formerly Senior Vice President of Medical & Scientific Affairs for Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America (TPNA), Inc.

Nausheena Hussain,

Multicultural Marketing, Best Buy

Nausheena Hussain is a marketing manager focused on developing strategic partnerships targeting the multicultural consumer. Although the focal point of her work is predominately on the Latino customer, she is very passionate around diversity and inclusion efforts especially around the Muslim culture as well as the Muslim consumer. She has recently launched and is Co-chair of the Interfaith Employee Business Network chapter at Best Buy headquarters to enhance the work environment by showcasing how faith plays a role in the employee experience, the customer experience and the communities we serve. In 2004, she helped found the Minnesota Youth Leadership Award, a scholarship program, and served as one of the Board of Directors. Nausheena also helped start her husband’s business in urgent care.

She graduated from the University of Minnesota cum laude in 2003 with her MBA and is pursuing her M.S. in Islamic Studies at the Islamic University of Minnesota. Married, with two young children, she lives in Minneapolis and is on the PTA Board for Al-Amal School.

Tariq Khan

President, Muxlim Inc.

Tariq Khan is a recognized business leader in marketing, branding, segmentation, and diversity arena. Tariq’s work, interviews and articles have been published in several trade and industry publications. He is the founder and President of Global Diversity Marketing, a management consulting firm focused on helping organizations to better understand the changing market place. Tariq is best known for leading the diversity initiatives in the financial services industry and making the business case for diversity.

Tariq has had a distinguished twenty-year career, mostly at global Fortune companies including MetLife, Nationwide, and ING. Tariq has held several senior management roles with the major Fortune companies. In his last position, Tariq was senior vice president and head of market development for ING, where he led ING’s strategy to expand growing emerging markets with over $2.4 billion annual revenue.

Safaa Zarzour

Secretary General of the Islamic Society of North America

Safaa Zarzour is the current Secretary General of the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA).  He is an educator, a long time ISNA volunteer, a civic leader, and an Attorney.

Mr. Zarzour holds a Juris Doctor degree from DePaul University School of Law, a Masters in Education from the University of Illinois in Chicago, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics from Arkansas State University.

Mr. Zarzour is a passionate educator. He is currently an adjunct professor at Loyola Law School teaching courses in Education and Islamic Law. For over a decade, he served as a teacher and then principal at Universal School, one of the largest PreK-12 independent Islamic schools in the United States.

As the Secretary General of ISNA, a founding member of AHA, Mr Zarzour actively participates in the establishment of a credible and efficient Halal accreditation system across industries.

Mr. Zarzour is also a member of the Board of Advisors of St. Xavier University School of Education and member of the Board of Directors of the Governor State University Foundation.  He is active in interfaith circles. He is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Bernadine Center at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago where he serves along with distinguished faith leaders from the Muslim, Jewish and Christian communities.

Mr. Zarzour lives with his wife Rhonda and their children in Bridgeview, Illinois.

Shahed Amanullah

Founder & CEO, Halalfire Media

Shahed Amanullah is the founder and CEO of Halalfire, a pioneer in creating compelling online content that empowers Muslim communities in the West and beyond. Halalfire’s network, which includes include zabihah.com (the worlds largest database of Halal restaurants and markets) and altmuslim.com (an online newsmagazine covering issues related to Islam in the West), attracts more than 10 million unique users annually.

Shahed has been twice named by Georgetown University and the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre as one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world, as well as one of “Ten Young Muslim Visionaries” by Islamica Magazine. As editor-in-chief of altmuslim.com, Shahed writes and speaks regularly about the challenges and opportunities facing Muslims in America. His work and writings have been featured in major media outlets (Newsweek, New York Times, Washington Post, BBC News, NPR, etc) and his television appearances include CNN, Al Jazeera, ABC’s “Nightline”, and “Hannity & Colmes”.

Shahed has previously served as a board member of the Muslim Public Service Network (http://www.muslimpublicservice.org), United Muslims of America (http://www.umanet.org), and the Muslim Youth Camp of California (http://www.muslimyouthcamp.org), as well as several other community service organizations. He is also a member of the board of directors of American Halal, Inc.

Lisa Mabe

Founder & Principal, Hewar Social Communications

Lisa Mabe is Founder and Principal at Hewar Social Communications in Washington, D.C. A recognized leader in her field, Lisa blends her keen interest in Middle East cultures with her extensive experience in public relations. As an expert in multicultural marketing, Lisa, along with her team at Hewar, focus on the Muslim and Middle Eastern consumer market segment and specialize in engaging with consumers in culturally-relevant, impactful and results-producing ways.

Lisa approaches all of her work from an anthropological point of view – researching the target audience thoroughly to understand their behaviors and motivations in order to provide the most-relevant and engaging communications on behalf of clients. Over the years, Lisa has worked with a host of Fortune 500 companies, non-profit-organizations, government agencies, and start-ups. Some of her clients have included: SunTrust Bank, Wachovia, Nestle, ConAgra, American Halal Co, Sodexo USA, Kimberly Clark, Sara Lee, DISH Network and Bissell Homecare among many others.

Prior to Hewar, Lisa spent several years with Mullen Communications in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. While there, Lisa intimately worked on or managed several high-profile public relations, online media and marketing to women initiatives for leading and innovating firms. Most recently, Lisa worked at the Washington, D.C. office of Proof Digital Media, Burson-Marsteller’s digital communications practice. At Proof, Lisa focused almost exclusively on enhancing, extending, and increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the digital public relations practice for clients including the United States Department of Treasury.

Hajj Abdalhamid David Evans

Managing Director & Sr. Analyst, Imarat Consultants

Hajj Abdalhamid David Evans was born in New York and has been widely educated in both the UK and Europe. He accepted Islam in 1978 in Norwich, UK and served and studied under Shaykh Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi in the UK and Spain for many years, and assisted in many community-based projects throughout the 1980’s and 90’s.

He has also provided Halal sector consulting services with KasehDia, whose clients included the Malaysian Government with respect to the strategic development of the Halal industry as an integral part of their Global Halal Hub programme, and to position Halal as an engine of growth for the local economy from agriculture through to exports.

Hajj Abdalhamid established Imarat Consultants Sdn Bhd in 2006 to provide consulting services and domain expertise to clients outside Malaysia, and left KasehDia in April 2007 to further develop the international consulting projects of Imarat Consultants.

Wahy-ud Deen Shareef

Director of Logistics and Industrial Opportunities, Department of Economic & Housing Development

Wahy-ud Deen Shareef currently is the Director of Logistics and Industrial Opportunities in the Department of Economic & Housing Development and Senior Advisor to Mayor Cory A. Booker in the City of Newark, New Jersey responsible for business and workforce development in the areas of the airport and seaport focusing on the transportation, logistics and distribution industries.

He retired after 25 years of serving as a Engineering Project Manager for Kraft/Nabisco Foods. In his position at Kraft/Nabisco he managed major capital equipment manufacturing project installations for processing and packing consumer food products. He is the President/CEO of his own consulting company Shareef Professional Services LLC providing Project, Program and Construction Management services, staff development, team building and project coordination from concept design through implementation.

In 1984 he co-founded Waris Associates Inc., a group community residents focusing on addressing educational, cultural and economic community concerns. This resulted in the establishment of the Waris Cultural Research and Development Center and Masjid Waarith ud Deen located at 62-70 Howard Street, Irvington New Jersey. These organizations co-exist and cooperate to develop and implement spiritual, educational, recreational, cultural and social programs that address the challenges facing American families today. W. Deen Shareef serves as the Director of Religious Affairs and Imam (Religious Leader). He also serves as the Executive Director of ComWealth Economic Development Corporation (EDC) a non-profit community development corporation he founded to implement economic development projects focusing on business development and the construction of new and renovated commercial, residential and industrial facilities. ComWealth provides education and training programs on homeownership, entrepreneurship and financial literacy.

He is the Convener of the Council of Imams in New Jersey. A consultive body of Muslims Leaders from various mosques and centers located in New Jersey who cooperate to develop and implement initiatives to improve the quality of life of the citizens in the communities they reside.

As a consultant he serves as a director on several boards in addition to conducting lectures, workshops, counseling, educating and training people in organizational and project management, ethics, moral guidance, personal and professional management, social responsibility and how to achieve ethically, intellectually and materially balanced lives.

Bami Bastani

Chairman and CEO, B2 Global Consulting, LLC

Dr. Bami Bastani is the Chairman and CEO of B2 Global Consulting, LLC. focusing on corporate transformation. He is the former President and CEO of ANADIGICS Inc., listed on NASDAQ, where he led the company for a decade (1998-2008). Currently, Dr. Bastani serves on Boards of Directors for several public and private companies.

Dr. Bastani draws his expertise from his many years at top-level positions in many knowledge based organizations and a successful track record of implementing, transforming and managing innovation at several top high-tech companies, including Intel, National Semiconductor, Fujitsu Microelectronics and ANADIGICS.  He has been a driving force in innovation in the fast moving high-tech field.

Dr. Bastani’s recognitions include American Electronics Association (AeA) NJ & PA 2007 High Tech CEO Hall of Fame; ANADIGICS NJ Electronic Company Of The Year 2007 by New Jersey Technology Council; opening the NASDAQ Stock Market in 2007 and 2000 respectively; featured twice in real time interviews on CNBC’s Power Lunch; National Semiconductor Corporation’s Business Excellence Award, Intel Corporation’s Individual Achievement Award,  The Ohio State University Distinguished Alumni Award, Shafstall Award, University Fellow; University of Arkansas Distinguished Alumni and Sr. Scholar Awards.

Dr. Bastani, has a, and PhD (1980) in Solid State Electronics and MSEE (1977) from The Ohio State University and a BSEE form the University of Arkansas (1976). Dr. Bastani holds three U.S. Patents and several publications in semiconductor technology.

Rashid Ghazi

Partner, Paragon Marketing Group

Rashid Ghazi is a Partner at Paragon Marketing Group, a privately held full service marketing agency specializing in sports, entertainment and cause related sponsorships. He brings with him over 21 years of industry experience in corporate consulting, television/event development and sponsorship sales.  Paragon’s clients include: Nature Valley Granola Bars (General Mills), Gatorade (Quaker Oats), Continental Airlines, Nike, Reliant Energy, Sears, Bayer, PNC Bank and ESPN.

Rashid began his career at Leo Burnett where he worked in the Media Department for two and half years on the McDonald’s account. He then spent six years at Intersport Television before joining Paragon Marketing Group in 1998. Over his career he has developed over 2,000 hours of sports television programming for networks such as ESPN, Fox Sports Net, ABC, NBC and CNN. He also has negotiated television and sponsorship rights agreements with a variety of local and national sports governing bodies, associations and leagues.  He recently was part of a marketing team that won the 2010 Promo & Activation Grand Prix and the PR Grand Prix Awards at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival for Gatorade “REPLAY”.

Rashid is a 1989 graduate of the University of Redlands in Southern California where he double majored in Business and Sociology and served as Student Body President his senior year. He received his MBA in June of 1999 from the Kellogg Graduate School of Business at Northwestern University and currently serves as a trustee for the North Shore Country Day School and is a board member of Iqra International Educational Foundation.

Rashid resides in Glenview, Illinois with his wife, Ruhma, their daughter, and two sons.

Dr. Muhammad Munir Chaudry

Founding Member and President, Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America

Dr. Muhammad Munir Chaudry is a Founding Board Member and President of the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA), an internationally respected not-for-profit halal-certification agency. Featured in various media such as The Wall Street Journal, Prepared Foods, and CNN, Dr. Chaudry is a pioneer in the field. Under his guidance, IFANCA has become a world leader in halal certification, with more than 22,000 certified products for 2200 companies. Clients include industry leaders such as Nestle, PepsiCo, Abott Nutritionals, Mead Johnson, Fermenich and Hershey International, in industries as diverse as flavors and pharmaceuticals. IFANCA halal certified products are sold in every nation.

Besides IFANCA, Dr. Chaudry is a food industry veteran with expertise in various technical and management positions. Here he has been responsible for quality assurance, human resources and employee training. He is the author of several papers and co-author of Halal Food Production, the single most widely used text on halal certification.

He is a member of the Institute of Food Technologists and an expert consultant to the World Organization for Animal Health. A delegate for the UN International Trade Center and the American Spice Trade Association, he has conducted food safety workshops internationally. He has his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana in Food Science.

Shahid Khan

Chairman and Chief Strategist, MediaMorph, Inc.

Shahid Khan is an acclaimed thought leader in converging Media and Telecommunications industries, with tremendous track-record of helping leading media, cable and wireless companies to identify and capitalize on opportunities based on emerging platforms and launching initiatives across Digital Music, Broadband TV, Mobile TV, HD Networks, eBooks, etc.

Shahid is currently the Chairman and Chief Strategist at MediaMorph, the leading global provider of cross-platform tracking, measurement, licensing and royalties management platforms for media companies with clients such as Warner Brothers, HBO, Sony, etc.  Prior to joining MediaMorph, Shahid was a Senior Partner at IBB Consulting Group, LLC, a premier boutique consulting firm serving leading Cable, Mobile and Media companies. At IBB, Shahid advised top management at leading clients such as Sony Entertainment, Scholastic, Disney, Hearst, IAC, Showtime, Time Warner Cable, Cablevision and Comcast on Business and Operational Strategy, Digital Strategy, New Product/Service Development/Launch, Merger Integration, and Business Development.  Some of Shahid’s recent engagements include the transformation of Advertising operations for a leading Cable MSO, development of Advanced TV strategy for a group of broadcasters, development of Digital Strategy for a major Hollywood studio, merger integration of on-line businesses for a leading sports TV network, acquisition planning of a TV network, as well as launches of: an on-line news venture, an on-line movie service, a multi-platform TV network, a mobile TV network, an HD TV network, a broadband entertainment portal, an children’s eBook service and a mobile communications service.

Prior to joining IBB, Shahid was a Managing Director at BearingPoint (formerly KPMG Consulting), responsible for leading BearingPoint’s Entertainment and Information Services industry practices, serving clients such as Warner Music, Major League Baseball, Thomson-Reuters, Moody’s and Rodale.  Prior to that, he was a Client Services Partner at IBM Global Services in Communication Industry, serving clients such as Viacom, Bertelsmann, Cablevision and the New York Times.

Shahid holds an MBA in Marketing and Finance from NYU’s Stern School of Business, and is a Fellow at U. Penn’s Wharton School of Business.  He has published numerous white-papers, is a frequent speaker at leading industry conferences, and is often quoted in leading publications such as the Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Red Herring, the New York Times, etc.

Rafi-uddin Shikoh

Managing Director/Founder, DinarStandard™

Rafi-uddin Shikoh is leading the development of DinarStandard™–a growth and investment strategy consultancy focused on the emerging Muslim markets.

Rafi-uddin has been leading the delivery of Muslim market analysis, feasibility studies and growth strategies for clients. He has also led DinarStandard.com publication special reports such as the DS100™ ranking of Top 100 Businesses in the Muslim World, Leading Brands of the Muslim World, Top 10 Opportunity Trends, and various other reports and features.

As an emerging expert on Muslim markets, he is regularly quoted in media such as The Economist, Forbes, LA Times, BBC World News, BrandChannel, Arab News (Saudi Arabia), Khaleej Times, Sabah (Turkey), The Star (Malaysia), Geo TV (Pakistan) and many more. Rafi-uddin has 12+ years of marketing strategy, e-business strategy consulting and technology management experience with small to Fortune 500 sized companies in the US such as Marsh & McLennan, Hartford, Sun Microsystems, Acxiom and Thomson Reuters. He has an MBA from UNC-Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, and a BSc. in Marketing from Southwest State University, Minnesota, USA. He was born in Pakistan and spent 14 years of his early schooling in the Sultanate of Oman.

Amir Toft

Regional Member, Halal Advocates of America

Amir Toft is a regional member of Halal Advocates of America (HAA). Spanning the Pacific Northwest, the Midwest, and the East Coast, HAA seeks to play a role in the advancement of halal consumption in America. Amir Toft aids HAA in educating the Muslim public about the moral significance of halal food and nurturing a relationship between consumer and corporation founded on ethical and commercial integrity.

He completed his memorization (or hifz) of the Quran and his Islamic Âlimiyyah studies at the Institute of Islamic Education, in Chicago. He holds a B.A. in economics from Northwestern University, and has spent periods of time in Turkey, Egypt, and South Africa, furthering his Islamic education, researching, and living with people and scholars of varying cultural and educational traditions. He is the translator of The Islamic Laws of Animal Slaughter (from Arabic Ahkâm al-Dhabâ’ih) by Shaykh Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani.