SO THAT WE MAY NEVER FORGET
“HELP US RISE”

Thomas G. Abraham is a nationally recognized business entrepreneur and civic leader. Born in Beirut Lebanon, adopted from the Crèche of St. Vincent at the age of four. He is the adopted son of the late Genevieve and Anthony R. Abraham, American Lebanese. Mr. Thomas G. Abraham father Anthony R. Abraham was the honorary consul of Lebanon in Miami for over three decades and was as very successful entrepreneur and generous philanthropist.

Thomas Abraham currently serves as President/ Partner in the numerous family enterprisesand has served with distinction for more than thirty years in senior executive roles as a President, officer and partner in numerous successful family-owned and operated business including, Anthony Abraham Chevrolet Co., Ltd., Miami; Anthony Abraham Oldsmobile Inc., Miami; Anthony Abraham Buick- GMC Truck, Inc., Miami; Abraham Chevrolet Company, Inc. Tampa; American Risk Assurance Company; Florida Leasing & Rental Co., Inc.; Florida Life Insurance Company, and Coral Premium Finance Co., Inc etc.

Both Anthony and GenevieveAbraham devoted their lives to helping others through the Anthony R. Abraham Foundation founded in 1976 which Thomas G. Abraham currently serves as Chairman. The foundation has provided millions to numerous worthy causes, for over 30 years in Lebanon. Among those organizations in Lebanon are The Genevieve Abraham School of Nursing, The Lebanese Hospital-Geitawi, The School for the Blind and Deaf, The Spastic Center, and The Crèche St. Vincent de Paul, Lebanese American University, The Lebanese Order of the Night s of Malta, Beirut Marathon, The Rene Moawad Foundation, Little Sisters of Nazareth, Catholic Near East Welfare Association, Teach for Lebanon, etc., in Lebanon.

Mr. Thomas G. Abraham also serves as a member of the Board of these organizations Camillus Health and House Concern, City Year, Emeritus Board Member for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital the Lebanese American University, APEAL, SEAL, Rene Moawad Foundation, Beirut Marathon Association and American Task for Lebanon.

While achieving national recognition as an innovator in the automotive dealer industry, Mr. Abraham also achieved widespread acclaim for his vision and cultural commitment to contemporary artists in Founding Miami’s not-for-profit StarArt Foundation which has provided extensive support for a multitude of civic events and organizations including: Grammy’s MusiCares Foundation, Panther Poster Project for the Miami Herald Charities, South Florida Botero Sculpture exhibit, The America’s Cup, Swatch Watch Summit of the Americas, Hurricane Relief Effort, American Airlines Miami Mile, Miracle Rock, and The MOVADO Watch for the Benefit of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and UNICEF etc.

This year Mr. Abraham launched as the Founder and Chairman of the 4/8 Beirut Memorial/ Museum and in collaboration with the launch of the Beirut “HELP US RISE” relief initiative as part of the 4/8 Memorial / Museum current plan to be relevant in supporting those institutions in Lebanon that have been devastated by the Fourth of August, 2020  Explosion.

Mr. Abraham an American citizen of Lebanese’s heritage is a life-long resident in Florida.  He attended the University of Miami, University of Denver in the 1970’s prior to embarking upon his career in business and his philanthropic endeavors.

Carlos Moubarak is the co-founder of the4/8 initiative and the architect behind the vision and design of Beirut Memorial Park.

Heestablishedcarlosmoubarak architect in 2007, an architectural design studio based in Beirut with local and global experience.He is currently design director of the practice which develops a transversal approach through a multidisciplinary team to provide holistic design solutions. Alongside his architectural praxis, Carlos Moubarak has combined academic work as he has taught architectural studio at several universities. He is regularly invited by these educational institutions as well as other architecture dedicated centers and foundations as a jury member for architectural and design competitions.

May El Khalil is the award-winning Founder and President of the Beirut Marathon Association. The Beirut Marathon Association oversees the annual Beirut International Marathon, which has been held every autumn since 2003 and was accredited by the IAAF International Association of Athletic Federations in 2009. In 2013, the race and social movement attracted over 36,000 runners from 104 countries.

Born in Aley, Lebanon, Mrs. El Khalil spent much of her adult life in Nigeria after her marriage to business man Faysal El Khalil. In Nigeria, Mrs. El Khalil became part of an international community and established the Lebanese Ladies in Nigeria, a non-governmental organization dedicated to providing assistance to the underprivileged members of Nigerian society and to promoting educational development by way of grants and scholarships.

When Mrs. El Khalil returned to her mother country of Lebanon, she encountered inflamed religious divisions, political impasses and military checkpoints on roads that were once open to all. In 2001 she suffered a near-fatal accident that placed her in a coma. Mrs. El Khalil spent two years undergoing dozens of surgeries that enabled her to walk again. Determined to celebrate the gift of life and mobility, she founded the marathon to help mend divisions in Lebanon. She wanted to shift the focus from that which divides the Lebanese people, and bring them together to celebrate that which they have in common.

This mission became ever more important in the aftermath of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafic Hariri’s assassination in February 2005, when the bustle of downtown Beirut came to a standstill, the Beirut Marathon Association organize the “United We Run” race that attracted 60,000 runners. Every year since each race that the Beirut Marathon Association organizes unites thousands of people, including national political leaders and royalty, all this in the world’s most turbulent region.

Mrs. El Khalil has been recognized for her work nationally and internationally; she has received the AIPS Power of Sport Award from the AIPS in Lausanne, and the Laureus World Sports Academy Lifetime achievement award in Abu Dhabi. She has been decorated by Lebanese President Michel Suleiman with the National Order of the Cedar, and has been granted appreciation awards from the Lebanese Ministry of Tourism, The Brazil-Lebanon Chamber of Commerce, and the Lebanese Ministry of Youth and Sport. Mrs. El Khalil was also a Paul Harris Fellow of the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International for 2010 and 2011. In 2013 she was presented with an honorary Ph.D. from LAU (the Lebanese American University), in 2014 She was honored by the YWCA Lebanon on March 8 ( international Women’s day ), she was also honored at the Annual SEAL Dinner (Social and Economic Action for Lebanon) , held at the Metropolitan club in New York on May 16, 2014.

Mrs. El Khalil spoke at the TED global conference in Edinburgh Scotland in 2013. There she shared the Beirut Marathon Association’s story with an international audience, and she explained that she founded the largest running event in the Middle East as an instrument of peace through sports. The assertion she made in her talk was that “peacemaking was not a sprint, but a marathon”, meaning that this kind of endeavor was a long race that requires commitment, endurance, and optimal belief in the ultimate goal. For May this optimum goal is peace and prosperity for her country, as she still runs her figurative Marathon towards that goal. To date Mrs. El Khalil’s TED talked has been viewed almost four million times on the official TED Youtube channel, she was also a speaker in Brussels at the INNOVATION CONVENTION for the European Union, and in 2014 she received the Fair Play for Peace Award by the Premio Fair Play Mecenate in Italy.

In addition to her work at the Beirut Marathon Association, Mrs. El Khalil is a mother of four children and grandmother to four grandchildren. She speaks at different Universities and organizations about the power of sport, perseverance, unity, and making the impossible dream of peace happen through running.

Nada Abdelsater, Esq., is an international lawyer admitted to practice in New York, Lebanon, and the Hague at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. She is the founding and managing partner of ASAS Law, a law firm based in Beirut with activities throughout the Middle East, Europe, and the USA, as well as Africa.

Nada holds a master in law (LL.M) from Harvard University. She holds a dual degree of French and Lebanese law from the St Joseph University (USJ), and a Bachelor of Science degree from the American University of Beirut (AUB), and she has completed the coursework of master in international affairs from the Lebanese American University (LAU).

She is the recipient of the International Corporate Governance Award from Yale University’s School of Business for her international contribution to corporate governance.

Ms. Abdelsater is a pioneer in the fight against corruption. She chaired the Transparency International Lebanon Chapter and was later the first woman from the Middle East to be elected to the International Board of Transparency International sitting in Berlin and present in more than 100 countries. She was also decorated by the Antonine University for her work in governance and transparency.

Nada is the exclusive representative of ICC-Fraudnet in Lebanon, the leading asset tracing and asset recovery worldwide legal network operating under the auspices of the International Chamber of Commerce based in London.

She is consistently named Leading Lawyer by the most recognized international legal directories including Chambers Global, Who’s Who Legal, and the International Financial Law Review.

Nadia El Cheikh is a scholar of the Abbasid Caliphate and Byzantium. She earned her BA in History and Archaeology with distinction from the American University of Beirut in 1985 and her PhD from Harvard University in 1992. That same year she joined the AUB Faculty and was promoted to the rank of Professor in 2006. In 2007 was the Shawwaf Visiting Professor of Arabic and Islamic Studies at Harvard University. Her publications include Byzantium Viewed by the Arabs (Harvard Middle Eastern Monographs, 2004) which was translated into Turkish and Greek. In 2013 she co-authored a book entitled Crisis and Continuity at the Abbasid Court. Formal and Informal Politics in the Caliphate of al-Muqtadir (295-320/908-932) (Leiden: Brill). Women, Islam and Abbasid Identity was published in 2015 by Harvard University Press and was recently translated into Arabic. At the American University of Beirut she served as Director of the Center for Arab and Middle Eastern Studies, was Chair of the Department of History and Archaeology, Interim Associate Provost and Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. In 2022 she was appointed Vice Provost for Cultural and Research Engagement at NYU Abu Dhabi.

Ricardo Karam is a veteran talk-show host, motivational speaker, and advocate of promoting Arab achievement and social causes. He has worked with the movers and shakers of the world, inspiring Arabs to break new ground one conversation at a time. His singular approach and eagerness to go the extra mile propelled him from Talk Show Host to author, screenwriter, and creative producer, helping him set himself apart and become a familiar face and voice of the Arab world.
In 2010, he decided to take storytelling to the next level and use it as a means of creating impact. He brought together those he worked with over the years and created TAKREEM emanating from his faith in a thriving Arab world and his strong belief in the importance of giving back to one’s community by empowering its beacons and honoring its traditions. In 2018, TAKminds came as a natural next step in the Foundation’s mission to bring about change. By building on its singular momentum and the untapped potential of possible synergies, this initiative aims to unite the TAKREEM community through thought and action-triggering events, talks, and activities. In 2019, TAKREEM USA was established as a portal connecting Arab Americans and Middle Eastern Immigrants to their roots and the region’s aspirations. So that no matter their instrument of choice, the diaspora all around the world play along to the same melody: the hymn of a better world.
Ricardo authored 2 books, Privileged Encounters (2000) and The Lebanese Paris (2005).
He regularly leads cultural, economic or media forums and has been a speaker, moderator, and panelist at conferences worldwide. He also supports academic institutions and non-governmental organizations by putting his expertise and network at the service of their work.

Expert on Public Policies. Executive Director for the Civic Influence Hub (CIH)

A researcher on the Palestinian Refugees issue in Lebanon and Peace Negotiations in the Middle East, on Syria Refugees and on Labor Policies and Social Protection. Steering Committee Member of the Lebanese – American Coordinating Committee – LACC (September 2021 – … ). Expert – Member of the Political National Committee working on refugees issue at the Presidency of the Council of Ministries (October 2016 – March 2022). He is Senior Policy Fellow at the Issam Fares Institute – IFI/AUB (December 2019 – December 2020). Member of ACT Alliance Peace and Human Security Reference Group-Geneva (November 2019 – December 2020). Policy Advisor in Adyan Foundation (2017-2019). Senior National Policy and Communication Advisor to the Ministry of State for Displaced Affairs (February 2017 – January 2019). Coordinator of “Better Lebanon Initiative” (December 2016 – December 2020). Policies and Communication Advisor to the Middle East Council of Churches – MECC (Sept 2018 – Dec 2020). Member of the Strategic Committee at the Maronite Center for Documentation and Research – MCDR (Sept 2018 – Sept 2021). He was the CEO of the Civic Influence Hub (July 2012 – January 2016), Policy and Communication Strategies Advisor for the President of the Lebanese – Palestinian Dialogue Committee in the Lebanese Presidency of the Council of Ministers (2006 – 2009). He then was the Policy Advisor and Team Leader of Lebanese Minister of Labor (January 2010 – June 2011), and the National Policy Advisor to the International Labor Organization – (ILO) (September 2011 – June 2013). He was also a Strategies’ Communication Advisor for the Middle East Council of Churches, the Syndicate of teachers in Lebanon and the Health Establishment of the Druze Community. He has specialized studies in the Palestinian issue in Lebanon, Peace negotiations, and Labor and social Protection issues, Syria Displaced and published several articles and lectures in Public Policies, as refugees, Christian – Muslim Dialogue, Religious Freedom, Arab thinking and Citizenship. He is publishing periodically in Annahar Newspaper, BeirutInsights and ICIBeyrouth websites.  Co-author of “We Choose Abundant Life: Christians in the Middle East: Towards Renewed Theological, Social, and Political Choices”.