Building a civic and community organization during a pandemic: MALA’s Ahmed Flex Omar

In this episode of Restarting America, Jeremy Greenberg from 97 Switch interviews Ahmed Flex Omar, co-founder of the Muslim American Leadership Alliance (MALA). Throughout the interview, they discuss the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on business and society. Omar shares how the current health pandemic has affected MALA and how they are adapting to new circumstances.

Before co-founding MALA, Omar worked at UBS Wealth Management Group, American Express, RSM McGladrey and Deloitte. He is the founder of Global Eventz, an event-marketing company, and a founding member of the Chicago Leadership Alliance. Omar is passionate about youth mentorship, particularly for millennials and members of Generation Z, through internships and fellowship programs, scholarships, exposure to arts and culture, and other creative opportunities to provide engagement. He has created several educational programs—such as Mompreneur, Muslims in Tech and Introduction to Islamic Art—to encourage professionals to take time to build skills like public speaking, personal branding and negotiating. Omar earned a Bachelor’s degree from Loyola University Chicago and a certificate in organizational leadership from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.