Kareem Irfan became

Chairman The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by members of the gro ...

of the Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago ( CIOGC) in January 2001 and held the position until December 2007. The CIOGC is a broad-based federation that serves over 400,000

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Americans. Prior to 2001, he was involved in a number of council projects, co-chairing its Bosnian Refugee Relocation Project and chairing its Media Relations Committee. He has worked together with the

Islamic Society of North America The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA) is a non-profit Muslim religious organization based in the United States and serving North America. It provides a number of programs and services to North America's Muslim communities and broader societ ...

(ISNA) in many areas including program development, presentations, and media relations for ISNA's annual conventions, and was a founding member of the ISNA Wills & Living Trusts Initiative. He now sits on the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

of the Islamic Center of Naperville and continues to do

pro bono ( English: 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. The term traditionally referred to provision of legal services by legal professionals for people who a ...

work for non-profit, religious, and professional institutions. Mr. Irfan works as assistant general counsel for the North American Division of

Square D Square D is an American manufacturer of electrical equipment headquartered in Andover, Massachusetts. Square D is a flagship brand of Schneider Electric, which acquired the company in 1991. The company was listed on the New York Stock Ex ...

Co. -

Schneider Electric Schneider Electric SE is a French multinational corporation that specializes in digital automation and energy management. Registered as a Societas Europaea, Schneider Electric is a ''Fortune'' Global 500 company, publicly traded on the Euronex ...

, a French global manufacturer of

electrical distribution Electric power distribution is the final stage in the delivery of electricity. Electricity is carried from the transmission system to individual consumers. Distribution substations connect to the transmission system and lower the transmission v ...

, automation and control products. He has a master's degree in

computer engineering Computer engineering (CE, CoE, or CpE) is a branch of engineering specialized in developing computer hardware and software. It integrates several fields of electrical engineering, electronics engineering and computer science. Computer engi ...

from

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...

and a J.D. from

DePaul University DePaul University is a private university, private Catholic higher education, Catholic research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded by the Congregation of the Mission, Vincentians in 1898, the university takes its name from ...

. Recently he has served as secretary and board director of the Intellectual Property Law Association of Chicago and as chairman of its Inventor Services Committee.

Awards

Mr. Irfan has earned the Distinguished Community Leadership Award from the U.S. Dept. of Justice; the Distinguished Interfaith Collaboration Award from Mayor Richard Daley of

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

; the Outstanding Religious Services Award from Imam W.D. Mohammed’s

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

Muslim Community; and the Community Service Award from the Muslim Bar Association.

References

External links

CNN Newsnight Transcript, October 9, 2002 - 22:00 ET
{{DEFAULTSORT:Irfan, Kareem American activists Living people University of Illinois alumni DePaul University College of Law alumni Year of birth missing (living people)

Awards

See also

References

External links