2020 ICGT Council
Ahmad Taouil, President
Ahmad was born and raised in the Toledo area and has been an active member of the Islamic Center all his life. At 25, Ahmad was the youngest member ever to be elected to the ICGT Council. For the first 3 years on Council, Ahmad chaired the International Festival and had the three most successful years on record. For the next 4 years on Council he served as Vice President and was Chair of the International Festival. He is active on multiple committees and has volunteered on countless projects involving the Islamic Food bank.
Ahmad is married to Malak Taouil and has three children, Adam, Leah, and Sophia, who currently attend the Al-Nour Weekend School. Ahmad graduated from the University of Toledo with a Bachelor’s degree in Biology. However, he decided to continue his career in the business field and currently owns and operates four furniture stores as well as multiple properties in the Toledo area.
When he isn’t working or volunteering at the Islamic Center, Ahmad spends his time with his family attending his children’s soccer games and practices. Ahmad is a proud member of the large Tawil family that are devoted and active members of the Center.
Ahmad hopes to continue to bring new initiatives to the Islamic Center and make it an important part of the lives of the generation he grew up with.
Nadia Ashraf-Moghal, Vice President
Nadia has been on the Council of the Islamic Center for the last seven years. She began as Chair of Religion and Education for the first two years and then went on to join the executive committee as Secretary. She became President of the Council at the start of her second term and served in this position for four years.
Nadia was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio. She attended the University of Toledo and the University of Toledo College of Medicine where she attained her Doctor of Medicine degree. She went on to complete her residency in emergency medicine at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center and currently practices emergency medicine at St. Luke’s Hospital in Maumee. She is married to Nadeem Moghal, who is an interventional Pain Management specialist in Toledo. They have two children, Raza and Zakaria.
Nadia is the daughter of the late Mohammed Asad and Ismat Ashraf. She grew up attending the Islamic Center with her family and now is glad she can do the same with her children. She has dedicated the last few years to the success of the Islamic Center and hopes to continue to improve this path with the new 2020 Council.
M. Naushad Hasan, Treasurer
Naushad holds a Master’s of Engineering degree in Industrial and System Engineering from the University of Michigan, as well as a Bachelor’s of Electrical & Computer Engineering degree from Youngstown State University. Naushad works for Buckeye Partners, L.P, an oil and gas distribution Company, as a Project Manager specializing in controls and automation systems.
Naushad enjoys spending time with his two daughters Maham & Sania along with his wife Mehreen Hassan. Naushad’s hobbies include playing cricket, flying radio-controlled airplanes and drones, and volunteering.
Naushad has been involved in the Building and Property Maintenance committee at the Islamic Center and took the lead in the construction of the cricket pitch and soccer field on our grounds. Naushad moved to the United States in 2001 from Lahore, Pakistan, and has been living in Perrysburg since 2012.
Rowaida Smidi-Darwich, Secretary
Rowaida has served on the Council of the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo since January 2015. She chaired the Ways and Means committee which included tasks such as organizing weekly Sunday coffee hours and helping organize fundraising dinners for the mosque. She has also been the Chair of the Religion and Education committee. Helping out with the full-time school and Sunday school were just a few of her responsibilities. She created a monthly Friday night program called “Stories from the Quran” for children and youth ages 5 and up.
Prior to serving on the Center’s Council, she was President of the Islamic School of Greater Toledo Board. Her children all attended the Islamic School of Greater Toledo and are currently enrolled in Al-Nour Weekend School. Rowaida is married to Dr. Maamun Darwich and has three children Kareen, Adam and Zayd.
Mariam Abdoney, Council Member
Mariam is the third daughter of Hassan and Aziza Abdoney. She was born and raised in Toledo, Ohio. Mariam grew up at both the original Islamic Center on Bancroft St., as well as at the current Islamic Center of Greater Toledo. Mariam has been actively involved in the Center her whole life. She has volunteered in the Sunday School as a teacher and has volunteered in running the Sunday kitchen for many years.
Mariam is a critical care nurse at St. Vincent Mercy Medical Center. She also works as a home health nurse for the elderly. She is the mother of two twin sons, Mohammed and Adam, who are actively involved in the youth group.
Sana Ashraf Ali, Council Member
Sana holds a BA in Psychology with Distinction from the University of Michigan as well as a JD Law degree from the University of Toledo College of Law. She is married to Dr. Syed Sohail Ali with 2 children, Syed Sulaiman Ali and Sarah Mariam Ali. Her interests include spending time with family, studying the Quran, Sunnah, and Hadith, exercising and volunteering at the mosque. Her future goals are to eventually practice immigration law when she has taken care of all her family obligations, raise well- mannered and kind children with a firm understanding of Islam, and lastly help as many people as possible in any way she is able to.
Najwa Badawi, Council Member
Najwa holds a BA from the University of Toledo and has taught ESL. She has served on Council for the 5 years and is currently the chair of the Public Relations Committee. Najwa is of Palestinian descent, having been born in Lebanon and moved to Toledo when she was 10 years old. Najwa is married to Ahmad and has 2 adult children, Reem and Omar.
Sara Dastagir, Council Member
Sara was born and raised in Perrysburg, where she grew up attending the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo with her family. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science, Middle East and Islamic Studies, and Arabic from Miami University. Currently, she works in the Office of the Mayor for the City of Toledo as the Mayor’s Assistant.
Her interests include writing about the intersection of politics and music, traveling to little-known countries, and collecting random facts that will help her win Jeopardy one day. She’s an avid photographer, who has documented her travels in Kosovo, Istanbul, and Oman. She’s a diehard Lakers fan since the Shaq-Kobe days but believes Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the greatest Laker.
Sara is honored to join the Council and eager to work with the exciting ICGT leadership team in 2020. She hopes to build upon the Center’s current programs and serve our community in a greater capacity.
Mersiha Hadziahmetovic, Council Member
Mersiha returned to the Toledo area after a twenty-year hiatus and promptly re-joined ICGT. She looks forward to being part of the Council and brings enthusiasm and vision to engage the youth and families with children to be more involved in the Center. She attended The Ohio State University for her undergraduate studies, where she graduated with honors with a B.S. degree in Biochemistry, and then completed medical school and specialty training also at The Ohio State University Medical Center. She graduated in the top 10% of her medical school class. Mersiha is a Radiation-Oncologist and worked at three NCI-designated cancer centers prior to returning to Toledo.
She is interested in furthering interfaith dialogue, and exploring how Islamic principles can help ameliorate some of the pressing societal issues of our times (e.g., poverty, hunger, racism, environmental crisis, classism, etc), and with the rest of the Council and Imam, leverage that knowledge to help the Center and its youth propose solutions as to how to better the situation for many in our wider community.
Mohamad Orra, Council Member
Mohamad has served on the Council of the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo since July 2016. He initially chaired the Membership Committee and was Treasurer of the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo from July of 2017 to December 2019. He received a BBA in Accounting and an MBA in Finance from the University of Toledo. He has 10+ years of experience working in finance and banking. Mohamad also holds the position of Trustee and Treasurer of the Foundation of the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo, has assisted in operating the Islamic Food Bank of Toledo, and has volunteered at the ICGT on countless projects. Mohamad is married to Dena Orra and has three children, Mazin, Yasmin, and Zayd who attend the ICGT weekend school. When he isn’t working or volunteering at the Islamic Center, he spends time bike riding with his family, gardening, and trying very hard to find some free time to do a little fishing.
Yasmin Pirzada, Council Member
Yasmin is an internist who works at Stony Ridge and is married to Noor Pirzada They have two boys both married. Her passion for being a Council member of ICGT is to reach out to other organizations so as to get involved in social events for worthy, beneficial, and healthy causes.
Michael Saleh, Council Member
Michael, a native Toledoan, has been a committed member of the ICGT community for as long as he can remember. Michael is the son of Ahmad and Elham Saleh, and the eldest brother to his siblings: Hanan, Dalila, and Ollie. In high school, Michael earned his Eagle Scout award for helping renovate the basketball courts for the Islamic Center. From 2006-11, Michael attended the University of Toledo graduating with a B.S. in Biology. He later went on to receive his Master’s in Public Health Epidemiology from the University of Toledo, followed by a Master’s in Public Health Administration in 2014. His interests include playing sports, volunteering, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.
David Shelton, Council Member
David has served on the ICGT Council since 2017. He is a field technician with T-Mobile and has over 30 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry. He and his wife, Amy are long-time ICGT community members and have served in various volunteer capacities at the center. His wife, Amy, is the Pre-School and Pre-K Director and Teacher at the Islamic School of Greater Toledo. David is currently the Chair of Building and Property Maintenance committee. David and Amy are parents to David and Sofia, both ICGT Sunday School and ISGT alumni and current college students in engineering at the University of Toledo.
