Board of Directors

Ramadan Alhaddad, Born in Benghazi, Libya. He had lived in many countries before he moved and settled down in Dayton, Ohio. He is a linguistic expert with an in-depth understanding and appreciation for other cultures, a senior Arabic Interpreter / Translator with more than 16 years of experience in the Legal and Medical interpreting and Translation . He has attended extensive training in the field of Legal Interpreting with The Supreme Court of Ohio. He has a comprehensive knowledge and experience in Interpreting for Trials, Depositions, Conferences and meetings. He is the top choice professional translator and writer for global news, blogs and magazines.

Lamees Mubaslat is an Architect and Sustainability Director for Montgomery County Planning and Construction department.  Designed, directed, and administered over 100 capital improvement projects ranging from large multiple use projects to small tenant improvements.  Currently works with the Dayton Regional Green 3 task force to promote greener government, businesses, and personal practices throughout Montgomery County and the Dayton region. Palestinian; born in Kuwait and raised in Jordan. Graduated from the University of Jordan with B.S in Architecture and moved to Dayton Ohio in 1989 to join husband Saed Mubaslat.  They have two boys: Jad, a biomedical engineering (pre-med) student at OSU, and Rahmey, a student in Miamisburg high school.

Anthony G. Massoud is the Past Secretary, Dayton Arab American Forum and married to Lelia Massoud. Tony  is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and retired in 2002 from the Reynolds & Reynolds Company after 30 years. He now is owner of Massoud Associates, Inc., a sales consulting company with organizations to help others reduce their costs especially with non profits. He is a United Rehabilitation Services Board Member, URS; Board Member, Gorman Hewitt Ayars Foundation;  Past President, ADA Dayton Leadership Council of the American Diabetes Association; Past Immediate Chair Prevent Blindness Ohio, Past President and current VP, Presidents Club of Dayton; Past President, Dayton Civitan Club, Founder and Past President Cincinnati-Columbus-Dayton Pitt Club, CCD Pitt Club, Board Member Justice and Peace in The Holy Land Forum.

Jad Mubaslat is an entrepreneur and software developer who has been passionate about Bitcoin and blockchain technologies for several years. He founded BitQuick.co, the first Ohio-based cryptocurrency company, while attending The Ohio State University during 2013. The Bitcoin trading platform was accepted into leading Bitcoin accelerator, Boost.VC in 2014, and simultaneously received investment from Tim Draper. BitQuick.co was later acquired by Athena Bitcoin Inc, a Chicago Bitcoin ATM company, in 2016 after growing to transact over $1.6M in trades each month.

He is also a Dayton-native, born and raised in Miamisburg, Ohio. He is also a recipient of Dayton Biz Journal’s 2018 40 under 40 award. Jad received his BS in Biomedical Engineering in May, 2015. He completed his masters dissertation in Industrial and Human Factors Engineering in 2018 at Wright State studying blockchain applications.

Maha Kashani was born in Tehran, Iran to Arab and Persian parents. Her mother, Ferdous, is Iraqi and her father, Reza, is Iranian. She is a proud and passionate Persian-Arab-American residing in downtown Dayton and believes in all things Ohio!

Maha is a Senior Account Manager at IGS Energy and works with Ohio’s largest commercial and industrial energy users as a strategic partner to develop custom-tailored energy procurement strategies to fuel their organizations.

Maha stays very active in her community. In addition to being the President of DAAF, Maha is the Founder and Chair of the Dayton ENCORE! program cultivating the next generation of Dayton Performing Arts Alliance patrons, serves as Chairwoman on the Board of Directors for the Better Business Bureau’s Center for Business and Consumer Ethics. Maha also takes an active interest in helping develop, attract and retain young talent with her involvement in the Ohio Young Professionals Network.

Maha is a proud 2005 graduate of the University of Dayton, a Leadership Dayton Class of 2010 graduate, 2013 AES National Spirit of Service Award Winner, 2012 Recipient of the Toastmasters International District 40 “Leadership and Communication Award”, 2011 recipient of the Dayton Business Journal’s “40 under 40” Award, 2011 Dayton Area Chamber of Commerce “Volunteer of the Quarter” and 2010 recipient of the Women in Business Networking’s “Top 25 Women to Watch” Award.

Bassam Nakfour. Born in Lebanon, he graduated in 1972 from the American University of Beirut Medical School. Upon completion of his residency training in Obstetrics – Gynecology at Case Western Reserve in 1976, he moved to Dayton, Ohio, where he established a private practice. He retired in 2003.  He is board certified in Obstetrics and Gynecology. For six years, he was chairman of the OB-GYN department at St. Elizabeth Medical Center. He is past president of Montgomery County’s OB-GYN society. He is married to Randa Slim and has one daughter, Aleese. He is co-founder of DAAF, was its second board president and is now a board member.

Nada was born and raised in Egypt, she graduated from Cairo University and completed her Masters in International Development in 2012. She has worked on projects for the European Union and the United Nations in Cairo, Egypt.
In 2018, she moved to Louisiana in 2018 and continued working in development and supporting non-profits to serve and help the community as a freelance consultant and volunteer.
Relocating to Ohio mid 2021, and still seeking to to be an active member of the community, Nada joined the DAAF and looks forward to supporting more community based activities to foster cultural awareness and diversity.

Youssef Elzein is a Lebanese American who led the campaign to successfully establish a Sister City relationship between his city of Dayton, Ohio and the Palestinian city of Salfit in the West Bank. Elzein has worked as a Civil Engineer for 35 years and has served his community in extraordinary and diverse ways: in the Dayton Department of Aviation, in the City of Dayton Police Reform Working Group and Implementation Team, in the Parents Leadership Council at the University of Dayton, on the board of the Dayton Arab American Forum, and in the Dayton Christian Connections Interfaith Trialogue.
He has also served as: a volunteer and current board member of Dayton’s American Red Cross Chapter, a mentor with the Montgomery County Ohio College Promise, a Catholic Social Services volunteer working on Refugee Resettlement, and a Habitat for Humanity volunteer working on three home builds. Not surprisingly, he is a recipient of the Outstanding Volunteer of the Year Award from the Dayton Presidents’ Club.