2019 ICGT Council Members
Nadia Ashraf-Moghal
President
Nadia Ashraf-Moghal has been on the Council of the Islamic Center for the last six 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 has served in this position for the last three 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 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 2019 Council. She is honored to be nominated for a third term on the Islamic Center Council.
Ahmad Taouil
Vice President
Ahmad Taouil, age 31, 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 3 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 two children, Adam and Leah who currently attend the Al-Nour Weekend School. Malak is expecting their third child and is due at the end of November, inshAllah. 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 three 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 son’s and daughter’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. His main goal this year is to continue to increase the relevance of the ICGT in both the Muslim and Non-Muslim communities in the area.
Treasurer
Mohamad Orra has served on theCouncil of the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo since July 2016. He initially chaired the Membership Committee, but has assumed the role of Treasurer of the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo since July of 2017. 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. Prior to his service on Council, Mohamad held 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 two children, Mazin and Yasmin who both 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.
Najwa Badawi
Secretary
Najwa Badawi holds a BA, Magna Cum Laude, from the University of Toledo and has taught ESL for the past 20 years. 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.
Mariam Abdoney
Council Member
Mariam Abdoney 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.
Mariam is looking forward to joining the 2019 Council. She is interested in the social services committee and event planning for the Islamic Center
Sana Ashraf Ali
Council Member
Sana holds a BA in Psychology with Distinction from the University of Michigan as well as a JD Law from the University of Toledo College of Law. She is married to 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.
Sara Dastagir
Council Member
Sara Dastagir 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 2019. She hopes to build upon the Center’s current programs and serve our community in a greater capacity.
M. Naushad Hasan
Council Member
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.
Yasmin Pirzada
Council Member
Yasmin Pirzada 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 other organizations so as to get involved in the social events for worthy, beneficial and healthy causes.
Michael Saleh
Council Member
Michael Saleh, 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. Michael currently works for the Comprehensive Centers for Pain Management in the Toledo area. His interests include playing sports, volunteering, traveling, and spending time with family and friends.
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. David is currently the chair of building and property maintenance and serves on the Islamic School of Greater Toledo Board of Trustees. David and Amy are parents to David and Sofia, both ICGT Sunday School and ISCT alumni and current college students.
Rowaida Smidi-Darwich
Council Member
Rowaida Smidi-Darwich 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. Recently, she has been appointed Chair of the Religion and Education committee. Helping out with the full-time school and Sunday school are just a few of her responsibilities. Last spring, 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 Center’s full time school board. Her children all attended the full-time school and are currently enrolled in Al-Nour Weekend School. Rowaida is married to Dr. Maamun Darwich and has three children Kareen, Adam and Zayd.
S. Saeed Zafer
Council Member
For the past 35 plus years, the Islamic Center of Greater Toledo (ICGT) has been my choice of institution for my spiritual and social needs. I actively volunteered for 11 plus years as a Treasurer of the Center and International Festival and a year as a “Ways and Means” Chair at the ICGT. Additionally, I proposed a conceptual “ICGT Urbanization Project” for the Long-Range Planning committee. I have a passion for learning new ideas/tools and improving business processes.
Professional:
For the past 20 years, I have been employed at Marathon Petroleum Company, ranked 31st in Fortune 500 companies. I manage multiple projects and critical systems that keep the “lights-on” of the company’s businesses – Refineries, Speedway and Marathon brands, logistics (Marine, Terminals), etc. Currently, I am leading to standardize systems of an acquired company, Andeavor. For 13 years, I operated a retail and wholesale business, before joining GE Aircraft Engine in Cincinnati. I created the first interactive extranet application that provided service engineers real-time health conditions of airline engines of all major airlines.
Education:
MBA with finance, Masters & BS in Management of Information Systems, and Engineering in Electrical and Electronics.
