On March 23, Chicago Foundation for Women held their 2017 Impact Award Ceremony which honors nine women who have made a great impact in the lives of women and children in their communities, including victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.
One of the honorees was Itedal Shalabi, co-founder and Executive Director of Arab American Family Services (AAFS), a CIOGC member organization. For 16 years, Shalabi has been the face of AAFS and has worked on behalf of domestic violence and sexual assault survivors in the Arab American community.
Shalabi expressed her appreciation and excitement by saying, “What a wonderful honor to have been chosen for the impact award. I’m humbled to know that the work being done on behalf of our Arab/Muslim women and girls is being recognized and acknowledged. Allah (swt) gave us our rights 1,400 years ago. I am only educating and empowering our women and girls to know that, and give them the tools and support needed to make a choice to live healthy and secure in their own homes.”
CIOGC congratulates Itedal on this accomplishment and greatly appreciates her service to the Chicagoland community!