Council on American-Islamic Relations Washington

Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) Washington works daily to defend against anti-Muslim hate, empowering Muslim families, youth, children and elders to amplify their voice through mainstream media and lobbying to build results-focused relationships with leaders in business, academia, labor, faith, and government. CAIR Washington is the state chapter of CAIR, America’s largest Islamic civil liberties group. With regional offices nationwide that stand as their own separate 501(c)(3) organizations, their mission is to enhance understanding of Islam, protect civil rights, promote justice, and empower American Muslims.

CAIR is proactive in policy work to limit recurring issues of discrimination. They have fought the Muslim Ban, which became sanctioned by the Supreme Court in June of 2018. Half of all of their legal battles for the past year have been immigration cases, including a recent high-profile case in which over 150 Iranian-American citizens were detained at the US-Canadian border.

They also fight stereotypes about Muslims. “Oftentimes, given depictions in the media, you’d think all Muslims are Arab,” says Masih Fouladi, Executive Director of CAIR-WA. “But 32% of Muslims born in the US are black, and the largest-growing Muslim community is Latin American.”

CAIR Washington left their large bank in search of a values-aligned, service-oriented provider. They chose Beneficial State for its community approach to banking. When the Paycheck Protection Program was announced, CAIR-WA reached out to their Relationship Manager, Stacey Krynsky, to lead them through the application process. Their largest fundraising period, the month of Ramadan, was swiftly approaching.  Without the ability to hold public events to raise working capital, CAIR-WA would only be able to afford to pay one-third of its current staff. A Paycheck Protection loan was their best hope.

“I know all the banks were handed a terrible situation without clear instructions or a path forward, and everyone had to really do their best to put in policies to effectively roll this out,” Fouladi shared. “We appreciated Stacey, and Beneficial State Bank, so much, because without you all, I think we would really not know where the next paychecks were going to be coming from.”