DETROIT —  Longtime social justice advocate and local Arab American, Rana Elmir, was recently appointed to the position of deputy director of the Michigan office of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the country’s most prominent civil liberties organization. Elmir, 30, was promoted to the position about a month ago, by ACLU Michigan Executive Director Kary Moss. Elmir has served the ACLU Michigan as its communications director since May 2006.  

“For more than 92 years, the ACLU has been at the forefront of virtually every major battle for civil liberties and equal justice in this country. In my role as the communications director, my charge was to advance this mission through community engagement, traditional media and digital communications. Today, as deputy director, my focus has shifted, and I’m charged with working with our visionary executive director, Kary Moss, and the rest of the amazing staff at the ACLU to advance high-impact cross departmental campaigns on some of our most important issues; what I like to call, the freedoms to dream, live and love,” Elmir said. 

Rana Elmir.

As the ACLU’s deputy director, Elmir says that her focus will also include helping staff lead successful campaigns, related to the ACLU’s efforts to protect privacy; fight for poor people; immigrant rights; children’s rights, including the right to an education; and the rights of the LBGT community. 

Elmir will continue to oversee strategic communications initiatives, such as branding and messaging, in order to engage hearts and minds on the ACLU’s important issues. Additionally, she will also work to provide leadership support to ACLU staff and volunteers.  

Elmir is a graduate of Wayne State University’s (WSU) journalism school and was also a member of the WSU Journalism Institute for Media Diversity.  Before joining the ACLU, she worked as a journalist with various local and out-of-state publications, with the hopes of telling the important stories that the media had ignored, particularly surrounding her own community. She also served as the Director of Programs and Outreach with the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee of Michigan, prior to her joining the ACLU. 

“My dream was always to become a journalist; to uncover truth from fiction,” said Elmir.  “However, as a reporter I quickly realized that my true passion is in activism. The ACLU’s mission is simple — to be the voice for any community where abuse and injustice has taken root. For many years, this has meant protecting Arab Americans and American Muslims against the worst kind of government sanctioned racial profiling and overreach. This is not only a priority for the ACLU, but the reason I do this work.” 

The ACLU has offices in Detroit, Lansing and Grand Rapids.  Its staff includes attorneys, lobbyists and field organizers. 

“The work that I do, that we all do here, is so vital and integral to our democracy…Whether it’s the attacks on privacy that are in the news now, advocating against torture and rendition around the world, driver licenses for DREAMers in our state, or an unconstitutional ordinance that bars leafleting 20 feet from a curb in a small town, each of these cases, big and small, are important and personal to me,” Elmir said.