Imam Quaiser D. Abdullah

Quaiser Abdullah, Ph.D. is the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Muslim Engagement in the City of Philadelphia. Dr. Abdullah is also an Assistant Professor in the Communication and Social Influence department and the Program Director for the Master of Science in Communication Management in Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University. He teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on conflict resolution, mediation, conflict in educational systems, interpersonal communication, leadership development and organizational development and assessment. Quaiser earned his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Religion, with a minor in Asian Studies. He then went on to earn a Master’s degree in Adult Learning and Organizational Development and a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology.

Quaiser’s research interests center around identity and conflict, leadership and conflict management and religious identity. He authored the chapter entitled “Muslim Leader Formation and Education,” published by SAGE in the Religious Leadership: A Reference Handbook (2012). His chapter, “Daanaa Abdullah: Exemplar of Community Leadership” was published in Democratic Ethical Educational Leadership: Reclaiming School Reform, in 2015 by Routledge. He has a number of published interviews on the topic of religion and identity in public spaces in various news media. He is also a frequent guest presenter to local and national audiences on topics relating to Islam, identity and conflict.

Quaiser is a scholar with the Institute for Social Policy (ISPU) and a recipient of the Trailblazer Award from the Muslim Wellness Foundation. He currently serves as co-president at the Association for Conflict Resolution (2023-2024), the faculty advisor for the Muslim Student Association at Temple (ongoing), and board member of the Black Muslim Leadership Council. Previously, he served as board chair of Interfaith Philadelphia (2021-2024), Police Chaplain for the 18th District in the Philadelphia Police Department, co-chair of the Mayor’s Commission on Faith-Based and Interfaith Affairs in Philadelphia (2021-2023), an Imam at Masjid Quba in West Philadelphia, and as an expert witness to share insights on verbal aggression and violence as it relates to police officers who were disciplined for engaging in verbally aggressive communication on social media. Quaiser’s most current project is as a co-convener of the new Muslim Coalition for Criminal Justice Reform established in 2020 in Philadelphia; which has been on hiatus since 2022. Quaiser continues to serve in other organizations locally and nationally.

Quaiser is the former president/owner of Statera Coaching and Leadership Consulting, LLC. Statera Coaching is a private company that focuses on conflict resolution, leadership development, workforce training and development, professional & conflict coaching and organizational development. He is a certified Conflict Resolution in Education trainer, certified coach, Positive Discipline Educator and a trained mediator in the area of Transformative Mediation, with a focus on family, divorce and custody mediation. Quaiser is also a graduate of the Goldman Sachs 10KSB and SBA T.H.R.I.V.E business development programs.