DEARBORN — Longtime community activist Ismael Ahmed is this year’s recipient of the Neal Shine Award for Exemplary Regional Leadership, sponsored by the Detroit Free Press and Metropolitan Affairs Coalition. 

Ahmed.

Ahmed is currently the associate provost for metropolitan impact at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. 

Before taking on that role, he was called on by former Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm to serve as the head of the State’s Department of Human Services for three years. 

Ahmed, 65, is widely known for helping establish the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS), which, over the last few decades, has evolved into one of the largest human service organizations in the State.  Ahmed served as the organization’s executive director for nearly 25 years. 

He now also serves as a board member for Reading Works, which strives to enhance adult literacy. 

Ahmed is a graduate of the University of Michigan-Dearborn. He was born in Brooklyn and moved to Dearborn’s south end, when he was only six years old.