My Nonprofit Reviews

CAIR-MN is not a religious organization. Our staff, board, and advisory board are multi-faith, multiracial and multicultural. It is a civil rights and legal advocacy organization that provides free legal services to Minnesota Muslims and other racial and religious minorities. CAIR-MN functions on a basic premise: that everyone deserves to be treated with respect and dignity. This includes the employees who were called “terrorists” and “monkeys” at work and fired when they complained about the hostile environment; the Muslim students who were bullied and had pork thrown at them at school; the imam whose mosque window was shattered twice in two weeks; the woman who was fired after she chose to wear a religious headscarf; the Jewish student who failed a college exam because she had to miss class for a religious holiday; the American citizen stranded abroad after his hajj trip because he was unlawfully denied a boarding pass; and others. American Muslims are going through challenging times. In our nation’s history, we have seen other minority groups treated the same way — and it could be a new group in the future. So we’re not just advocating for Minnesota Muslims, we work to protect the rights that many Americans have sacrificed their lives for.

There has been a tremendous growth of CAIR-MN’s name and reputation in the community since its founding. Each year, CAIR-MN appears over 115 times in local newsmedia. CAIR-MN was named a 2010 “Difference Maker” by the St. Cloud Times, received the 2011 Nonprofit Mission and Excellence Anti-Racism Award from the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and MAP for Nonprofits, named the 2012 CAIR Chapter of the Year, selected for Minnesota Philanthropy Partners’ 2013 "Nonprofits to Know," and featured in the Rochester Diversity Council “What Works.” Recently, CAIR-MN received the 2013 Difference Makers Award from the American Bar Association’s Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division for “making a difference through pro bono work.”