Araif Yusuff – Experienced Nonprofit Programs Director
Araif Yusuff serves as the Director of Programs for Islamic Relief USA (IRUSA). In this executive role, he supports the nonprofit in carrying out its mission of eliminating poverty from the world through programs focused on relief and development. Araif Yusuff has carried out responsibilities as director of programs since 2021, and in this capacity, he has oversight of a $350 million portfolio of disaster relief and development programs in the US and around the world.
Yusuff’s achievements in this role include developing a five-year strategy for increasing IRUSA’s presence in the US, with a particular focus on healthcare, food insecurity, and disaster management. He has also led IRUSA to become active in refugee resettlement. The organization now receives multi-year federal State Department funding to resettle Afghan refugees across the US.
Araif Yusuff came to his director position after having previously spent more than four years working with IRUSA. He joined the nonprofit in 2017 as a New Jersey-based US programs coordinator, and later earned a promotion to manager of the Disaster Management Team. Holding this position from 2019 to 2021, he strengthened IRUSA’s relationship with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and stabilized the organization’s Houston Recovery Program to align with best practices for long term recovery. Prior to the appointment of IRUSA CEO Ahmed Shehata, Yusuff also served as interim CEO.
Outside of his responsibilities with IRUSA, Araif Yusuff is the board president of New York Disaster Interfaith Services and the vice chair of the New Jersey State Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters. He also maintains a board seat with the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster and is an advisory board member of the New York City Faith Sector Community Preparedness Program.
Before beginning his career, Araif Yusuff graduated with a Bachelor of Arts from the CUNY John Jay College of Criminal Justice. He remained at the school for his graduate studies, completing a Master of Public Administration in 2016. Four years later, he earned the certified fundraising manager accreditation from Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.