2022 Columbus Banquet Awardees

2022 Columbus Annual Banquet

The aWARDEES



Community Empowerment Awards

Gwendolyn Aqueelah Salaam

Social Justice Warrior & Author of Done All the Time

G. Aqueelah Salaam (AKA Gwendolyn Spinks) is a believer in Allah (GOD) first, a wife to her husband Yusuf for almost 45 years, mother to five and grandmother to six, who loves her family and friends dearly. My calling in life has been as a support person through childbirth education and doula services for nearly 41 years, also assisting those who have developmental disability challenges.
Her book, Done All The Time, is a Mother’s Challenge of the Judicial Systems use of Quid Pro Quo “Getting Something for Something”

Done All The Time entails a captivating story of a series of events that is written with heartfelt love, compassion, conviction and truth. Mrs. Salaam creates the backdrop from her son’s birth, all the joys, the heartache and growing pains of raising a child, right down to the transformational processes of change. Seeing her son go from an angry teenager (SENTENCED TO 18 TO LIFE) to a responsible man from within the prison walls all within a span of 13 years, Mrs. Salaam endured visitations, prison phone calls, food and clothes boxes and even the deviating feeling of the disconnect of unfairly losing a child to the system. She tells her chilly story of crooked lawyers bending judicial system rules, and of a hope that never died.

Fighting like a Black Mother Bear, and hitting a dark wall in the Legal System, while holding on to Faith, Hope and love as her armor, it became clearer to Gwendolyn that she should not give up. She lived in two worlds. One world with those who didn’t understand or believe why she wouldn’t just accept his fate, and the other world where she tried to show her son that she was on top of everything he asked her to do.

With love and perseverance in January 2020, her son was released from prison.

Imam Horsed Noah

Outreach Director of Somali Islamic Centers of Ohio

Imam Horsed Noah is the outreach director of Somali Islamic Centers of Ohio (SICO), an umbrella of 7 islamic centers in Columbus, Ohio and the former director of Abubakar Assidiq Islamic Center. Imam Horsed studied under a host of scholars in the traditional halaqa, has a B.S. in Biochemistry, and is currently pursuing his Masters in Theology and Sociology. He is a board member of Faith in Public Life, which is a national platform where faith leaders address social issues that affect us all.
Imam Horsed travels extensively and lectures on issues like spirituality, social justice, and youth empowerment.

Nicol Ghazi

Executive Director of Muslim Family Services of Ohio

Nicol Ghazi is currently serving as the Executive Director of Muslim Family Services of Ohio. She has held the position since 2013 where she is able to utilize her management skills and expertise to serve women, families and individuals in our community. Nicol is a vocal advocate on issues impacting women and families, both within our community and on behalf of our community in the public sector. In addition to her role at MFSOhio, she served two terms on the Columbus Women’s Commission and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Legal Aid Society of Columbus.

She has served as a youth mentor and as an outreach facilitator in the greater Central Ohio Muslim community. She has a strong commitment to advocacy and community involvement, seeking out best practices to empower others to achieve their potential while delivering positive results and effective strategies for community building.

Nicol and her husband, Mohiuddin live in Galena, Ohio where they have been active in helping to build the Muslim community in Delaware County.

Zubaidah Ghani

Board Member & Founder of Black American Muslim Community Center of Ohio

Zubaidah Ghani is an African-American Muslim woman and mother of three who has worked in the field of education for 15 years as a teacher, administrator, and liaison for many different school districts in the Columbus area. With a background in psychology and education, Zubaidah has extensive experience working with local and nationally known community outreach and civil rights organizations such as MSA, CAIR, and NAACP. Additionally she has worked as an assistant community health coordinator for Urban and Public Affairs in Dayton, a counselor for the office of Academic Retention and Support at Alabama A&M, and as a research assistant for the Air Force research laboratory in the Wright State University Department of Psychology. She is currently a content and grade level lead teacher at KIPP Columbus teaching middle school social justice.

Hero Award

Hilliard Schools Girls

Salma Khawam
Hilliard Davidson Student

Randa Khawam
Hilliard Weaver Student

Ayah Azrak
Columbus Metro Student

Ranim Farra
Worthington Kilbourne Student

Bushrah Alhyari
Dublin Coffman Student

Nour Hafez
Hilliard Davidson Student

Tesneem Shabsigh
Dublin Coffman Student

Saja Mu’Ammar
Hillard Bradley Student

Layan Abu-Romeh
Hilliard Davidson Student