Muslim Advocates Moves to “Epicenter” of Fight Against Bigotry

Today, Muslim Advocates is announcing major institutional advancements, including a move of its headquarters from Oakland, California to Washington, DC, a doubling of its staff since the Muslim Ban was issued, and an updated mission statement and organizational rebrand.

The organization, currently headquartered in Oakland, California, is relocating to downtown Washington, DC, and the staff expansion includes increased legal, campaign, and community engagement teams.

The changes come in response to the increased demand for Muslim Advocates’ leadership to address an unprecedented rise in anti-Muslim hate crimes, hate groups, policies, and public officials since 2015. The organization, which was founded in 2005 in response to widespread surveillance and discrimination against American Muslims, has had to greatly diversify and deepen the work it does in defense of the community.

“The deck has never been more stacked against American Muslims, and we’ve had to radically expand to work in every venue – in the courts, in the halls of power, in campaigns, and in communities – and the epicenter of this fight is increasingly here in the nation’s capital,” said Farhana Khera founding executive director of Muslim Advocates. “These threats have also come with an awakening from American Muslims and allies who recognize that so many of our struggles are intertwined. We were founded to give American Muslims a seat at the table with expert representation, which means we must evolve to meet the demands of this era.”

The organization’s branding has been updated, and it will roll out a new website and online action center in January, 2019.

And the mission has been updated to reflect the organization’s work to fight bigotry and discrimination in all of its forms against all Americans:

Muslim Advocates is a national civil rights organization working in the courts, in the halls of power and in communities to halt bigotry in its tracks. We ensure that American Muslims have a seat at the table with expert representation so that all Americans may live free from hate and discrimination.

Muslim Advocates’ programming has greatly expanded over the past two-years. The organization:

• Filed more lawsuits than it has in its entire organizational history and achieved settlements including:
  • Against the NYPD for spying on American Muslims (Hassan v. City of New York)
  • Against the Trump administration for separating families at the border (Dora v. Sessions)
  • Filed the first post-Supreme Court legal challenge to  Muslim ban implementation (Emami v. Nielsen)
• Became the nation’s leading expert on anti-Muslim candidates with its Running on Hate report.
• Assumed a corporate accountability program advising companies like Airbnb, Spotify, and Starbucks and launching public campaigns against the policies and practices of Hyatt and Facebook.
• Led campaigns against hate group-affiliated officials like Sebastian Gorka, Mike Pompeo, Steve Bannon, and John Bolton.

“This is just the beginning. While the rebrand honors our past, it also nods towards our future. We will continue to evolve and incorporate the latest techniques, innovations, and tools to defend all Americans and work to ease this tidal wave of bigotry and discrimination,” concluded Khera.