The Arab-American Business and Professional Association is excited to announce the Emerging Leader Program will officially resume in February 2021. Due to the pandemic that deeply affected everyday life in 2020, all Emerging Leader programs were postponed. ABPA President Rush Darwish founded the program in 2016 and is excited to resume the program. “The ABPA Board of Directors attempted on several occasions to restart the program in 2020 but we were overwhelmed by the challenges COVID-19 presented.” We have learned how to work around it and asked all of our 2020 Emerging Leader recipients to retool their programs and present virtually” Darwish said.
The Emerging Leader Program will be chaired by Iba Ello Fletcher, a Senior Environmental Specialist with Exelon Corp. Mrs. Fletcher was also selected to the Inaugural Emerging Leader class and now serves on the ABPA Executive Committee. “It is with great honor to have been a forerunner for ABPA’s Emerging Leaders Program. The program is a notable opportunity to the prosperous young leaders in the Arab American community. I look forward to provide my learning and knowledge towards the new emerging leaders development.” The remaining 2020 Emerging Leader selectees will complete their presentations by March 2021. The New Emerging Leader Class of 2022 will be announced in May. The online application to be selected as an Emerging Leader opens February 5th, 2021.
The ABPA Emerging Leader Program is designed to engage Arab Americans with our organization by selecting top tier, up and coming professionals with the skills and qualifications to create new business initiatives and programs to benefit the Arab American Community and beyond. The ABPA’s Emerging Leader Program is not just an award; it is about completing a task or an initiative. The selected participants will be responsible for creating an idea or concept that helps promote and improve Arab Business and Professionals