MacArthur has named Aly Kassam-Remtulla Program Officer in the General Program, which provides support for the media, arts and culture in Chicago, and special initiatives.
In this position, Kassam-Remtulla will be responsible for several aspects of the programs grantmaking and carry out projects to explore potential new areas of work.
Before joining the Foundation, Kassam-Remtulla was a Senior Associate at Boston-based Isaacson, Miller, a national executive search firm that serves mission-driven organizations. During his three years there, he worked primarily with universities, advocacy organizations and foundations, including Cornell University, Rockefeller Foundation, American Civil Liberties Union, Common Cause, Stanford University and Oxfam America.
Prior to this, Kassam-Remtulla was a consultant to Lehman Brothers investment bank in London. He also worked as an intern with the National Network for Immigrant and Refugee Rights in Oakland, California, as an instructor in Asian American Studies at Stanford University, and as a research assistant for Nobel Chemistry Laureate Paul Berg.
Born in Kenya and raised in Calgary, Canada, Kassam-Remtulla earned his undergraduate degree in Anthropology, Asian American Studies and Biological Sciences from Stanford University and was a Rhodes Scholar at Balliol College, Oxford University, where he obtained a Masters degree in Forced Migration at Queen Elizabeth House and an MBA at the Sad Business School.
Kassam-Remtulla is the recipient of the Duke of Edinburghs Gold Award for young Canadian leaders presented by HRH Prince Phillip. He is a published poet and is currently editing an anthology titled A Call to Hope. He is active in Chicago as a Board Member of the ACLU of Illinois, member of the Chicago Steering Committee of the Human Rights Campaign, and a member of Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia-based Rainbow Endowment founded by Martina Navratilova.