About AMD

American Muslims for Democracy (AMD), is a NJ based grassroot organization that was formed in 2014.  AMD’s founding members had realized the importance of engaging the American Muslim Community in the civic process as the strength of the community was not representative of the number of votes casted during general and local elections.  

AMD is a non-profit organization that engages with local communities and advocates for policies and proper representation of the community across the state. AMD’s focus has been advocacy, voter engagement, voter education, facilitating conversations, educating the community in the political sphere, and last but not least, helping build bridges between community and elected officials/legislatures at local, county, state, and national levels. 

AMD also focuses on community engagement, community building and providing financial and other much needed support to local, diverse ethnic and faith based, grassroot organizations that work directly on the ground with their communities, especially the hard-to-reach communities in need. 

Behind the scenes due to our extensive work with inter and intra faith communities, we help build a wider network across the state to work through on-hand challenges as they arise such as refugee resettlement and the recent Covid related support.

Organization Overview:

  • Coalition Building: American Muslims for Democracy (AMD) has been actively involved in coalition building for the past decade, fostering relationships with various inter and intra-faith organizations across the state.
  • Law Enforcement Partnerships: The organization takes pride in establishing partnerships with Local, County, State, and Federal Law enforcement agencies, as well as legislators. This collaborative effort aims to enhance communication between these entities and the community while advocating for issues directly impacting the Muslim community and underprivileged groups statewide.

Recent Accomplishments:

  • COVID Response: During the COVID-19 pandemic, AMD actively raised funds to support the day-to-day operations of various grassroots charitable organizations.
  • Community Advocacy: AMD played a crucial role in addressing bias / hate crime incidents within central Jersey, raising awareness and voicing concerns on behalf of the community.
  • Education Initiatives: The organization engages in educating law enforcement and school districts on Islamophobia and Islam/Muslims, fostering understanding and tolerance.
  • Youth Empowerment: AMD connects youth with resources, organizing events like a Law enforcement job fair in central Jersey with participation from over 30 agencies.

Advocacy and Engagement:

  • Legislative Advocacy: AMD actively participates in advocating for the Muslim community through meetings with legislators, organizing an annual Muslim advocacy day, and facilitating county-wide meetings with Muslim communities and various law enforcement agencies.
  • Appointments: Notably, the organization has successfully secured two appointments at the county and state levels within the past six months.

Community Engagement:

  • Leadership Meetings: AMD spearheaded meetings with Muslim leadership from across the state, identifying major asks and concerns of the community pre-COVID.
  • Muslim Heritage Month: Through coalition building, direction, hard work, and support from legislators and senators, AMD successfully advocated for the designation of January as Muslim Heritage Month in New Jersey, celebrating the rich cultural contributions of the Muslim community with the greater New Jersey community.

Short-term and Long-term Goals of AMD

  • Voter engagement and education to build a strong voter block.
  •  Continue fostering bridges/liaisons between the community and law enforcement agencies.
  •  Planning Law Enforcement county events.
  • Co-organizing / supporting Annual Muslim Advocacy Day.
  • Organizing Muslim Heritage Month activities, connecting the community with resources.
  • Taskforce – aiding in establishing task forces and action committees from municipal, county, and state levels. 
  • State-level task force or Muslim Advisory Council.