WASHINGTON, D.C. – On February 25, Dearborn native Fayrouz Saad was appointed to serve as the assistant secretary, office of partnership and engagement, at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. In this role, Saad serves as the primary advisor for DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas on external engagements and the impact of the Department’s policies, regulations, processes and actions on state, local, tribal, territorial (SLTT) officials, non-governmental organizations, the private sector and the academic community.

This is a critical office for the Arab American community as the office serves a primary point of contact between the department and the community on key issues of concern. 

Saad is a Michigan native who grew up in Dearborn. She has almost 20 years of experience working in in the private sector and the public domain at the state, local and federal levels. She has served in multiple leadership roles in the Biden-Harris administration. Most recently, she served as the director of public engagement for the CHIPs Program Office at the Department of Commerce. She led the office in the development and implementation of an engagement strategy to work directly with semiconductor industry stakeholders on CHIPS implementation. Prior to this role, Saad served as director of public engagement at USAID; where she expanded the agency’s engagements to domestic audiences.

Prior to joining the Biden-Harris administration, Saad spent five years in Michigan working on economic integration programs for immigrant and refugee communities. She worked alongside the private sector and community partners to open up workforce and small business pathways for under-represented communities.

In Michigan, she also served as the first director of Immigration Affairs for Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan. Later she was appointed by Governor Whitmer as the executive director of Global Michigan. Saad also served in the Obama administration at the Department of Homeland Security, where she worked on emergency response, community resilience programs and cyber security.

Saad lives in Washington, D.C. with her husband and sons.