Adam A. Elsayigh is an Egyptian playwright, dramaturg, producer, educator, and translator. Through his producing and creative practices, Adam interrogates issues of immigration, colonialism and the experience of queerness in the Middle East. Some of Adam’s plays include Memorial, Jamestown/Williamsburg, and Drowning in Cairo. Adam is the Casting Apprentice at The Lark Center for Play Development and a Fellow Laboratory for Global Performance & Politics in Georgetown University. Adam’s work has been seen at IRT Theater, Dixon Place, Golden Thread Productions, and The NYU Abu Dhabi Arts Center. He holds a BA in Theater with an emphasis in Playwriting and Dramaturgy from NYU Abu Dhabi and is currently a Ph.D. student in Theater and Dramaturgy at CUNY’s Graduate Center.

Commissioner Bitta Mostofi, of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, is a long time immigrant rights advocate and human rights organizer. After graduating law school from DePaul University in Chicago she pract,iced civil rights law with a particular focus on the discriminatory impact of immigration practices on Muslim or Middle Eastern immigrants. Shortly thereafter she joined Safe Horizon and continued her legal practice representing immigrant crime victims, asylees, and others in both affirmative and defensive petitions before the immigration court. Bitta led the organization’s advocacy work on behalf of immigrant crime victims seeking U visas, including before the City and Department of Homeland Security. Along the way Bitta has continued her community organizing, increasing awareness of global human rights injustices and the plight of refugees. Since joining the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs in 2014, Bitta has advanced the rights and well-being of immigrant New Yorkers. After spearheading the IDNYC outreach campaign, Bitta helped design the ActionNYC legal services program and was promoted to Assistant Commissioner of MOIA in January of 2016. In May of 2018, Mayor de Blasio appointed Bitta to Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.

Omer Abbas Salem is a Chicago-based actor and playwright originally from Syria, Turkey, and Egypt. His Chicago acting credits include: Linda and Earthquakes in London (Steep Theatre), Pinocchio (The House Theatre), Princess Mary (Bailiwick Chicago), Le Switch (About Face), INVASION! (Silk Road Rising), Merge and Even Longer and Further Away (The New Colony), and Washer/Dryer (Rasaka Theatre). Regional Credits include: Angels in America I/II, A Christmas Carol, You Across From Me (Actors Theatre of Louisville). Off Broadway: Eddie and Dave (The Atlantic Theater) and I am Going to Change the World (Roundabout Theater). His writing has been featured by Jackalope Theater, The New Colony, The Actors Theatre of Louisville, and Theater Viscera. He is a proud Core Ensemble Member of The New Colony and an Actors Theatre of Louisville acting apprentice 17/18. www.omerabbassalem.com

Noor Hamdi is an actor based in New York City, having performed in theatre Off-Broadway, regionally, and internationally. He is a graduate of the William Esper Studio in acting as well as The Ohio State University, holding a dual-degree in International Relations and Diplomacy and Linguistics. In addition to acting, Noor is also an ESL, Arabic, Spanish, and Portuguese teacher, as well as a dialect coach. He is proudly Syrian-American, Muslim, and queer, and strives to be an advocate for people affected by refugee crises, especially the Syrian diaspora.

Danny Ramadan is an award-winning Syrian-Canadian author, public speaker and LGBTQ-refugees activist. The Clothesline Swing, Ramadan’s debut novel, won the Independent Publisher Book Award, The Canadian Authors Association’s award, and was shortlisted for Evergreen Award, Sunburst Award and a Lambda Award. It was long listed for Canada Reads 2018. The novel is translated to French, German and Hebrew. His children’s book, Salma the Syrian Chef, was released in March 2020. He was named Top Immigrant to Canada 2017 and awarded the Mark S. Bonham Centre for Sexual Diversity Award for Excellency. He lives with his husband, Matthew Ramadan, in Vancouver.

Bitta Mostofi is a long time immigrant rights advocate and human rights organizer. After graduating law school from DePaul University in Chicago she practiced civil rights law with a particular focus on the discriminatory impact of immigration practices on Muslim or Middle Eastern immigrants. Shortly thereafter she joined Safe Horizon and continued her legal practice representing immigrant crime victims, asylees, and others in both affirmative and defensive petitions before the immigration court. Bitta led the organization’s advocacy work on behalf of immigrant crime victims seeking U visas, including before the City and Department of Homeland Security. Along the way Bitta has continued her community organizing, increasing awareness of global human rights injustices and the plight of refugees. Since joining the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs in 2014, Bitta has advanced the rights and well-being of immigrant New Yorkers. After spearheading the IDNYC outreach campaign, Bitta helped design the ActionNYC legal services program and was promoted to Assistant Commissioner of MOIA in January of 2016. In May of 2018, Mayor de Blasio appointed Bitta to Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs.