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National Arab American Heritage Month (NAAHM) celebrates the rich and diverse Arab American heritage and culture and the achievements of Arab Americans and Arabic-speaking Americans with ancestries traced to 22 countries in the Middle East and North Africa. While Arab American heritage has been celebrated since the 1990s, in 2021, April was federally declared National Arab American Heritage Month.

In recognition of NAAHM, WTS Philadelphia is spotlighting the National Arab American Association of Engineers and Architects (NAAAEA). NAAAEA is a professional association that promotes and advocates Arab American Engineers, Architects and Information Technology professionals in the U.S., by providing career and educational enhancement programs, grants, scholarships, mentorship and community service. NAAAEA was founded in 1996 by a small group that was committed to form an organization to support Arab Americans in the engineering, architectural and IT industry. In less than 20 years, this organization has grown to be a national organization with nine chapters ranging from New York to California!

We would also like to shine this spotlight on Hiba Abdalla, PhD, PE, SE, who is the President of the AAAEA Illinois Chapter. Hiba has a passion for helping members grow and transform their lives, their careers and their communities. She oversees all of the AAAEA-IL programs and initiatives, including scholarships, educational programs, technical events, career development sessions and much more. Hiba is also an accomplished structural engineer with Parsons Corporation.

For those interested in learning more, please visit https://arabamericafoundation.org/national-arab-american-heritage-month/ and https://nationalaaaea.org/.