Wasiullah (Wasi) Mohamed served as the Director of the Islamic Center of Pittsburgh (ICP) Food Pantry for two years, and was selected to be ICP’s Executive Director in 2015. In this position, Wasi worked to empower, educate, and unite the diverse community in Western PA through social services and outreach programs. Wasi is currently a Senior Policy Officer at the Pittsburgh Foundation, where he develops short and long-term policy agendas that parallel the Foundation’s grant-making efforts. In 2016, he was appointed by Mayor Bill Peduto to the Commission on Human Relations (protecting civil rights) and the Welcoming Pittsburgh Commission (encouraging immigrant and refugee inclusion), where he was elected chair. In 2018, he was appointed by Governor Tom Wolf to serve on the Commission on Asian Pacific American Affairs and he also was elected to the ACLU Pennsylvania State Board of Directors. He is a frequent speaker on TV and radio and was recently named “40 under 40” by Pittsburgh Magazine and “Who’s Next in Pittsburgh Politics?” by The Incline, the youngest on both lists.
The catalytic power of this Summit in bringing together those who are devoting their lives to pushing back and working to confront, understand and work towards solutions around hate in our society is a noble and difficult task. The Summit not only energized those who attended but led to connecting the dots in a global network of those doing this work. The stories of the victims of hate were painful to witness but their courage in coming forward was inspirational. Those who attended left energized with the hope that by working together solutions can be forged.
