For the past 17 years, Kasar Abdulla has made a tremendous impact on communities throughout Tennessee as an educator, advocate, organizer, and facilitator of issues concerning New Americans and receiving community members. One of the founding members of the Welcoming Tennessee Initiative (WTI), the model for all subsequent welcoming initiatives, Kasar continues to cultivate an environment for community members to address difficult issues such as immigration and religious understanding through dialogue in order to build strong communities and lift up diversity as one of Tennessee’s greatest strengths. Kasar, a native of Kurdistan, is one of Nashville’s most well-known and respected community leaders and truly embodies the values of cross-cultural understanding and community leadership.