Our Team
A Team Of Professionals
Marwan Ahmad
AHC Founder & Board Member
American Halal Council
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Mr. Ahmad is the founder of the American Halal Council. He is also the organizer of the Halal Expo & Summit since 2018. He is the president of Arabesque Media, a Virginia based marketing and event planning company.
Mr. Ahmad has a degree in Computer Information Systems and education in digital marketing and non-profit management. He has been in the marketing and event organizing business since 1994. He served on a media training mission to Italy with the State Department, touring four cities to speak, educate and train local ethnic media.
Mr. Ahmad received a number of awards from various community and government agencies including CAIR, ADC and Governor’s Community Service award.
Bassam Asfoor
AHC Board Member
American Halal Council
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Habib Ghanem
AHC Board Member - Consultant
President of US Halal Chamber of Commerce
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Mr. Habib is the President and CEO of USA Halal Chamber of Commerce, Inc. and the Director of the ISWA Halal Certification Department and has been for over 21 years. The USA Halal Chamber of Commerce, Inc, and the ISWA Halal Certification Body are internationally recognized Halal Certification bodies which are internationally accredited HCBs (Halal Certification Body). Habib has an educational background in Accounting from the University of District of Columbia and Project Management from Phoenix University.
He has had countless certifications and trainings in the Halal industry over the last few decades. He has been involved in the Halal industry since the 1980’s in various ways. He is a former director for the DC Arab Chamber of Commerce and a former board member of the Eastern Montgomery County Executive Board in Montgomery County, Maryland.
He and his organization are current members of the Greater Silver Spring Chamber of Commerce. He has helped write many standards and policies related to food industry and the Halal industry. He is currently the Vice President of the World Halal Council (WHC), which is a federation of over 50 Halal certification bodies all over the world. Habib and the ISWA Halal Certification body are founding members of the World Halal Council (WHC). He is also a member of the World Halal Food Council (WHFC).
Peter S. Unger
Consultant
President & Principal Consultant of IQEIS
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Mr. Unger has been involved with accreditation since 1978. He served President since 1996, Vice President of A2LA since 1986 and Associate Manager of Laboratory Accreditation at the National Institute of Standards and Technology) since 1978.
Mr. Unger served as Chair of the International Laboratory Accreditation Cooperation (ILAC) for 2010-2016. He is an author of many papers on accreditation, active participant in the establishment of ISO/IEC standards for accreditation and author of a book on Achieving Accreditation for Your Laboratory, 1992.
Mr. Unger currently consults with accreditation bodies and conformity assessment bodies to help them attain international recognition. Mr. Unger has a BS degree in systems engineering from Princeton University and a Master’s in environmental management from George Washington University.
Dr. Omar Wali
AHC Advisory Board - Consultant
Founder and President of American Halal Meat
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Dr. Omar Wali is the founder and President of American Halal Meat. As a wholesale halal meat distributor, he has made it his goal to ensure that Muslims in the Washington metropolitan area have access to affordable, high quality, certified halal meat.
Over the past three decades, Dr. Wali has seen firsthand the controversies surrounding what is halal, what isn’t halal, and what certifications to trust. He has relied heavily on his degree in veterinary medicine, his experience as an international meat inspector, and his strong faith and belief in Allah to help guide the community in making choices that are good for their faith, and good for their dinner tables.
Quintin Gray
Consultant
President and CEO, Q. Gray and Associates,
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Mr. Quintin Gray, President and CEO, Q. Gray and Associates, has more than 30 years’ experience helping U.S. companies market their food products in Africa, the Middle East, and Europe while serving as Agriculture Counselor at U.S. Embassies. This includes tours in Saudi Arabia as the Agricultural Trade Officer and in Dubai as the Agriculture Counselor. He currently is a Lead Instructor for the Foreign Supplier Verification Programs (FSVP) in compliance with the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), helping food importers and exporters comply with U.S. Food and Drug Administration regulations.
He is a highly sought-after speaker on various trade policy issues e.g. speaking on the Importance of International Trade Deals, the Impact of the Trump Administration withdrawing from the Paris Climate Accord, and on the potential impact of the United States, Mexico, Canada, Agreement (USMCA). He serves on advisory committees at Virginia International University, N.C. Agriculture and Technical State University, and as a Special Adviser for a U.S. Halal Certification Organization. He is fluent in French has some skills in Arabic and German.