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Comment by asifa on January 10, 2009 at 3:58pm

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Comment by Zeenat on November 14, 2008 at 3:18am

Keep those suggestions coming. And in addition to applying for jobs at change.gov - interested applicants should also send resumes to the Warren Institute. Here's some info that's been floating around on Obama listserves and blogs:
The next President of the United States will face many challenges, including that of appointing more than 3,000 individuals to high-visibility jobs, such as the Cabinet and sub-Cabinet positions (which are much more numerous yet with significant responsibilities) and more entry-level positions which still wield enormous influence.

Whether the next President is Democrat or Republican, it is vital that he have a diverse and talented pool of candidates to staff his administration. Unfortunately, without an extensive outreach effort to identify talented individuals from all backgrounds, it is likely that lists of candidates for these significant and important jobs may very well reflect the revolving door of Washington, DC. The next Administration should reflect the changing diversity of our country—not just racial, but ethnic, geographic and religious—and we can do better if we start now to search for those accomplished, skilled and experienced individuals to help lead the country.

To achieve this goal, the Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity (Warren Institute) at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law is in the process of building a Talent Bank to create a rich and diverse pool of candidates for the upcoming appointment process. Our goal is to develop a list of 300 or more highly qualified, experienced professionals and provide these names to key officials to help in the very difficult job of staffing a new Administration.

We are seeking resumes of diverse, talented and experienced individuals with an interest in public sector service and a demonstrated commitment to issues of social and economic justice. If you would like to help identify individuals for our Talent Bank, please forward or have resumes sent to warreninstitute@berkeley.edu.

To be fully considered, resumes must be received by the Warren Institute no later than November 21, 2008. Please note, not all resumes will be forwarded to the official personnel transition office as some effort will be made to review qualifications and experience in order to be useful to the official transition effort.

Maria Echaveste, a senior fellow at the Warren Institute, who is overseeing the Talent Bank Project, worked on the 1992-93 Clinton-Gore transition on the personnel side, as well as on the 2000-2001 transition from the Clinton White House perspective. The Talent Bank Project is non-partisan and has a small Resource Board of Advisors who represent both parties and who believe in the importance of diversity. If you have specific questions regarding this project, please contact Ana Djordjevich, Development & Communications Officer at the Warren Institute, at 510-642-4102.

We thank you in advance for your time and thoughtful consideration of potential job candidates.

About the Warren Institute
The Chief Justice Earl Warren Institute for Race, Ethnicity and Diversity at the University of California, Berkeley School of Law is a multidisciplinary, collaborative venture designed to advance racial and ethnic justice in California and across the nation. We leverage the strengths of a world-class university to deliver timely research, carefully "engineered" policy recommendations and consensus-building activities.

For more information about the mission of the Warren Institute, please visit www.law.berkeley.edu/centers/ewi.

Comment by Atif Ahmed Choudhury on November 13, 2008 at 11:27pm

Awesome idea Zeenat! I'd recommend Fareed Zakaria and/or Reza Aslan to join the Obama foreign policy team...both men have credentials par excellence (PhDs from Harvard) and would offer a balanced, honest and intellectually-stimulating analysis of the Muslim world. .

Comment by Zeenat on November 12, 2008 at 4:32pm

Ishmael Ahmed has already been vetted. He would be a great addition to an Obama administration. Biography below:Biography of Ismael Ahmed

Ismael Ahmed was appointed by Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm as director of the Michigan Department of Human Services effective Sept. 10, 2007. A nationally-recognized expert in immigration and social reform, Mr. Ahmed leads the state's second largest agency. He oversees nearly 10,000 employees and administers a $4 billion-plus annual budget serving 1.5 million medical assistance cases and 1.2 million cash and food assistance cases.

During his tenure with DHS, Mr. Ahmed has implemented a variety of child welfare system reforms, including a consortium of Michigan Schools of Social Work to perform research and evaluate and train social workers; public-private partnerships to enhance child welfare services; and a task force dedicated to developing measurable outcomes for foster care, adoption, juvenile justice and homeless and runaway youth. In addition to negotiating a successful 2008 agreement with the Children's Rights organization, he has promoted new ways to help foster children "age out" of the system and has launched a statewide initiative to stem the effects of poverty in Michigan. As DHS director, he currently serves on the Michigan State Housing Development Authority board and as a member of the Early Childhood Investment Corporation's executive committee.

Mr. Ahmed co-founded the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) 36 years ago, and was appointed executive director in 1983 where he was responsible for overall operations of the organization to include the executive administration of the Arab American National Museum. ACCESS is the largest Arab-American human services organization in the United States. It has affiliates in 11 states and offers over 90 different programs with more than 900,000 client contacts annually.

Under his leadership, ACCESS received the Exemplary Community Service Program Award from the State of Michigan. In addition, ACCESS received the Points of Light award, given by President George H.W. Bush in 1992 for an exemplary non-profit service. Mr. Ahmed was named Director of the Year in 1992 by the United Way of Michigan.

For three consecutive years, Mr. Ahmed has been a guest speaker on U.S. and Arab relations at the Foreign Ministers Meeting of the League of Arab States. He has also been a contributing author to Arabs in America: Myths and Reality and has written for the Woodrow Wilson Foundation publication, Arab American Political Participation in the United States.

Mr. Ahmed has served on a number of governing boards for Southeast Michigan organizations, Eastern Michigan University's Board of Regents, Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit Symphony Orchestra, Association of Performing Arts Presenters, University of Michigan Citizens Advisory Board, United Way, and New Detroit The Coalition. He chaired the Immigration Task Force and the Cultural Exchange Network for New Detroit. He has also hosted multi-cultural music programs, one on Detroit's WDET Radio and two others on Detroit Public Schools Radio, for 20 years.


Copyright © 2008 State of Michigan

Comment by Zeenat on November 12, 2008 at 4:31pm

Let's not forget Rashida Tlaib. Yay!

Comment by liz omar on November 12, 2008 at 1:07am

asa,
as promised here's my short list visit links for more info on each?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saqib_Ali
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andr%C3%A9_Carson
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Ellison_(politician)
Ok, let's investigate and then begin to work out the deets of requesting officially, since the white is being wired an all lol!

Comment by Zeenat on November 11, 2008 at 2:34pm

How about that guy Sohaib Abbasi for CTO? He's a former senior vp from Oracle - totally qualified for the position and a strong Obama supporter.

Comment by Zeenat on November 10, 2008 at 2:47pm

Any Attorney General material in our community? What's that? No, not yet. Really? Go figure.

Comment by Zeenat on November 10, 2008 at 2:44pm

Obama's going to hire a chief technology officer. We've got techies in our community - major techies! Suggestions anyone?

Comment by Zeenat on November 9, 2008 at 10:57pm

Any standouts in the community for Health and Human Services or the Department of Agriculture? Under Clinton, Muslim American - Dr. Islam Siddiqui was an undersecretary. What about candidates for Surgeon General? Plenty of Muslim American docs out there. Anyone? Anyone?

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