Hatem Abudayyeh

Hatem Abudayyeh is the Executive Director of the Arab American Action Network (AAAN), a community based organization that helps empower Arab Americans and Arab immigrants across Chicagoland through organizing, advocacy, social services, youth development programming, and arts and culture. The son of Palestinian immigrants who themselves were leaders in Chicago’s Arab community, Hatem was born in Chicago and coached varsity basketball and baseball as an administrative assistant at Mather High School before joining the AAAN.

He is Vice President of the Board of Directors of the Coalition of African, Arab, Asian, European, and Latino Immigrants of Illinois (CAAAELII), is a founding Advisory Board member of the National Network for Arab American Communities (NNAAC), and sits on the National Coordinating Committee of the United States Palestine Community Network (USPCN). Abudayyeh writes and speaks on issues related to the Arab community in Chicagoland and the U.S., as well as foreign policy as it regards Palestine, Iraq, and the Arab World.