Jawaad Abdul Rahman is adjunct faculty at The Fund Raising School (TFRS), Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. He has over fifteen years of professional experience in fundraising, leading development efforts at Unity Productions Foundation, a national non-profit dedicated to promoting peace and greater interfaith understanding through the media. Over a ten year period, UPF increased its size ten-fold, by expanding programmatic areas including film production, educational outreach, and Hollywood engagement. His work supported this expansion through the development of major gifts, foundation relations, direct marketing, and international giving programs. Jawaad has also worked for other local and national non-profits, establishing major gifts and leadership development programs. He is the founder American Muslims Unite for Life, which registered thousands of American Muslims to donate their bone marrow to their fellow Americans of all faiths as a possible cure for blood diseases.
He has given presentations on strategic philanthropy to a donor-advised fund of The Chicago Community Trust, spoken at over a dozen nationwide universities and also worked in film production. He was the Co-Executive Producer of The Sultan and the Saint, nationally broadcast on PBS, as well as other films.
Jawaad has an MPA from Indiana University and a Bachelors in Economics from the University of Cincinnati.