Attorney, Public Servant
Junaid Afeef began his American adventure in 1973 when he moved to the United States with his parents at the age of four. Being an immigrant, a person of color, and a religious minority has given him a very unique perspective. Growing up, he was the brown kid with a funny name. In the early years in America, the Afeef family experienced many hardships, including bullying and bigotry.
Thankfully, the bigots didn’t win. Some amazing teachers helped him find his place in the community. Still, it wasn’t until Junaid got to the University of Iowa that he finally had a chance to be the person he wanted to be without the baggage his childhood brought.
University of Iowa
He studied political science, economics, and other social sciences at the University of Iowa. Through his fraternity, Phi Kappa Theta, he volunteered in many charitable and philanthropic activities, served in leadership roles, and played intramural sports. Junaid Afeef graduated from the University of Iowa in 1991 and matriculated to law school at the American University in Washington, D.C.
Legal Career
Junaid Afeef graduated from the American University’s Washington College of Law in 1994, passed the Illinois bar exam that same fall, and was sworn into the Illinois Bar in November 1994.
Over the course of a 30+ year career, Junaid Afeef has served the poor, the marginalized, and the needy time and time again in private practice as a public defender, working with grassroots organizations and through volunteer efforts with civil liberties groups.
Over time, he has cultivated strong federal, state, and local relationships with law enforcement. For example, shortly after 9/11, he worked with the Muslim Bar Association of Chicago (an organization he co-founded in 1997), the Arab American Bar Association, and the ACLU of Illinois to develop a pro bono legal panel to help innocent non-immigrant residents who were being asked to register with federal law enforcement because of their countries of origin (Middle East primarily). Junaid Afeef and other volunteer attorneys provided advice to non-immigrants targeted by the government and represented them at their interviews with the Federal Bureau of Investigations. The program was developed with the help of the Chicago office of the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Northern District of Illinois.
Preventing Hate-Inspired Violence
Later in his career, Junaid Afeef built and ran the nation’s first state-level program dedicated to finding non-criminal justice-focused solutions for people exhibiting behaviors that raised fears of violence. This program – the Illinois Targeted Violence Prevention Program – sought to educate Illinois residents of all backgrounds about the importance of seeking help and support for loved ones rather than waiting helplessly while their lives were destroyed.
PERSONAL LIFE
Junaid Afeef strives to give back to his community in many different ways. He volunteers with civic and interfaith efforts, provides his expertise on violence prevention and anti-hate efforts with local schools and community colleges, and supports youth wrestling programs in his community. Junaid Afeef is an elected member of a local school board of education and serves on a few committees at Elgin Community College. Through his mosque, he and his family volunteer time and effort to help the homeless.
After a fun but undistinguished high school football and wrestling career, Junaid Afeef remains active all these years later through running and strength training. He is a regular fixture at the local gym, and to date, he has run 5 half marathons, a bunch of 10-milers, and a ton of 5Ks for charities, including Team Red, White, and Blue, and two Tough Mudders.
As a diehard Hawkeye, Junaid Afeef loves to watch the University of Iowa compete athletically, and he makes an annual trip back to Iowa City to catch a football game at Kinnick Stadium or a wrestling dual at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Junaid Afeef is married with children. Over the years, he coached youth soccer and youth wrestling.
JUNAID AFEEF 