Meet the Community Collaboration Initiative Team
Lina Grajales
Project Assistant
Lina Grajales is a professional in business administration, an administrative management technologist, and administrative assistance technician. As such, she has completed related training in higher management. Moreover, she has great knowledge about collaborative intelligence and team building.
She has over three years of work experience in related fields from administrative assistant to customer service specialist to team manager of customer service for Business Process Outsourcing. In Colombia where she resides, she volunteers at the YMCA Risaralda since 2012 and has been part of the board of directors since 2017 as the secretary. She helps to develop an English program for children that do not have English language as a formal subject.
Camille Irvine
Facilitator
Camille Irvine is a Cybersecurity IT Project Coordinator at Sayers Technology Services. She utilizes her leadership, interpersonal, and facilitation skills to collaborate with clients and internal departments to safely prevent IT security breaches.
Previously, Camille held a creative leadership role at the Adler Planetarium Chicago, where she developed content for a planetary show called “Imagine the Moon.” She has also served as a program assistant at Northwestern University and has held other roles at the American Heart Association and the American Red Cross.
With a BA in Media and Communications from Columbia College Chicago (2002), Camille initiated her career in television production and held positions at Post Effects, the Jenny Jones Show, and other productions.
To challenge widespread misinformation and misrepresentation, she produced the first daily Muslim talk radio show called Radio Islam (est. 2001). As the inaugural producer, she elevated the diverse and expansive lived experiences of Muslim Americans. Camille created show content, mentored a rotating set of hosts, and amplified the work of prominent Chicago Muslim leaders. She continues to bring together her professional skills and knowledge of the Muslim American community to this project.
Ali Ottman
Facilitator
Born and raised in Chicago, Ali Ottman has had the pleasure of serving the Chicagoland community for over a decade in numerous ways, such as working on youth development projects and research studies revolving around the food deserts of the inner city.
Ali attended UIC where he graduated with a B.S. in Kinesiology and a M.Ed in Instructional Leadership. Currently, he is working as an analyst in the healthcare industry. Ali’s daytime job doesn’t stop him from finding ways to learn from and serve various communities throughout Chicago, so he’s very excited to get started with the Community Collaboration Initiative!
Azhar Mithaiwala
Facilitator
An Atlanta native, Azhar has been a part of professional, religious, and civic nonprofits as a volunteer, board member, and founder over the last 15 years.
Azhar attended the Georgia Institute of Technology where he graduated with a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering. Currently, he is pursuing a graduate certificate from Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy and is working as a project manager for the largest health system in GA.
Azhar is passionate about his community and is thrilled to be working with CCI.
Kim Rihman
Facilitator
Kim has over 20 years of Corporate Leadership experience; her professional focus includes human capital strategic planning, training and leadership development, human resources and organizational development, and talent and succession planning. Her practical insights are gleaned from direct work experience in organizational connections and developing and deploying human capital. She has held adjunct faculty positions at Benedictine University School of Business at and Keller Graduate School of Management where she has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in Leadership, Human Resource Management and Entrepreneurship.
Mrs. Rihman earned her Bachelors of Arts from Chapman University in Sociology and Social Sciences, a Masters Certificate in Human Resources Management and her Master of Arts from the Webster University in Human Resource Development/Organizational Development. Mrs. Rihman is a member of the American Society for Training and Development and Society of Human Resource Management.
She has an extensive history of volunteering her time across a multitude of organizations. Kim is currently a School Board Member on the Oak Grove School District 68 Board of Education. She enjoys spending time with family, playing and watching sports, and traveling around the globe. Kim and her husband (Arshad) live in Libertyville, IL with their two children (Mia and Zane) and enjoy sharing new experiences and life lessons with them, while having fun.
Shariq Siddiqui
Principal Investigator
Shariq is assistant professor of philanthropic studies and director of the Muslim Philanthropy Initiative at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. Shariq has a Ph.D. and M.A. in Philanthropic Studies from the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. He also has a JD from the McKinney School of Law at Indiana University and holds a B.A. in History from the University of Indianapolis.
Shariq authors research on Muslim philanthropy and the Muslim nonprofit sector. Most recently, he conducted a national survey of full-time Islamic schools in the United States. This project resulted in the book (that he co-authored) Islamic Education in the United States and the Evolution of Muslim Nonprofit Institutions, published in November 2017.
Shariq also serves as the co-editor of the Journal of Muslim Philanthropy and Civil Society, Journal on Education in Muslim Societies, and as the series editor of the Muslim Philanthropy and Civil Society Book Series. All three are published by Indiana University Press.
He has served as a nonprofit practitioner for over 20 years for international, national, regional, and local nonprofit organizations. Previously, Shariq served as the executive director of Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA).
Dilnaz Waraich
Collaborator
With over 25 years of experience in education, community organizing, and interfaith engagement, Dilnaz exemplifies generations of engaged and compassionate civil servants. As an immigrant from India and product of the CPS school system, she has been able to overcome the inherent limitations that these institutions impose.
As a formally trained educator, her moral code and drive to affect change breathe life into her philanthropic, community organizing, and interfaith engagements. Dilnaz is an influencer and holds multiple board appointed and committee positions through the Chicagoland area with WBEZ Chicago Public Media, Northwestern University School of Education, Interfaith Youth Core, Chicago Theological Seminary, Catholic Theological Union, and Muslim Community Center.
Dilnaz has dedicated her family’s philanthropic efforts in engaging with diverse stakeholders, furthering pluralism and helping build bridges. Dilnaz holds a Master in Literacy degree from Northwestern University, and an MS and a BS from Loyola University. She is currently working on a Master in Spiritual Leadership.
Roohi Younus
Program Manager & Facilitator
Roohi Younus, co-founder and principal at R&R Strategists, has been consulting with nonprofit organizations for over 11 years. She has worked with the leadership at prominent organizations around the country to help envision and execute strategies related to development, branding, marketing, volunteer management, compliance, logistics, and more.
Roohi also co-founded MUSE Bookings, a speaker and artists bureau that provides booking services to American Muslims. She also served as the inaugural executive director of the Mohammed Webb Foundation in 2014 and has been a board member since 2016. Roohi graduated from DePaul University in 2001. She resides in Woodridge, IL with her husband, three children, and parents/in-laws at various times of the year.
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