Mohannad Malas is the co-founder of IRA Capital, a US real estate investment firm with $2B assets under management. He and his wife, Rana have a long history of philanthropy with a focus on education, innovation, and filmmaking.
Mr. Malas serves on the Board of Trustees of the University of California Irvine where he established the Mohannad and Rana Malas Chair in Islamic Legal Studies at the Law School and is a founding board member of the UCI Beall Applied Innovation. He also serves on the Board of Trustees of the Claremont Graduate University, where he established a chair in Islamic Studies.
Mr. Malas also founded the nonprofit M Film Lab to support filmmaking in diverse communities. He has executive produced many award-winning films, including The Present, which won the BAFTA for Best Short Film in 2021.
In addition, Mr. Malas supports many Muslim organizations across the U.S. including IMAN-Atlanta, ISLAH-LA, Sabil, Afghan Literacy Foundation among others. He funded and helped build one of the largest mosques in the Southeastthe Al Farooq Masjid in midtown Atlanta, and the Mission Viejo Mosque in Orange County.
Mr. Malas and his wife Rana reside in Laguna Beach close to two of their three daughters and five grandchildren.
Nominated by: Afghan Literacy Foundation; UC Irvine Foundation; American Muslim Community Foundation; UC Irvine School of Law; Sabil; Islah-LA