{"id":3234,"date":"2022-02-28T02:14:27","date_gmt":"2022-02-28T07:14:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/onemax.org\/texas\/?p=3234"},"modified":"2026-07-13T23:01:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-14T03:01:15","slug":"max-texas-inaugral-gala","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onemax.org\/texas\/max-texas-inaugral-gala\/","title":{"rendered":"MAX Texas Gala 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221; woodmart_inline=&#8221;no&#8221; text_larger=&#8221;no&#8221;]MAX Texas was thrilled by the incredible following and support that made our inaugural Gala possible, celebrating Muslim excellence with the community in February 2022.<\/p>\n<p>The event was a sold-out success, bringing together nearly 300 Muslim professionals at the Grand Tuscany Hotel. The Gala brought together like-minded, successful Muslim professionals from across the greater Houston area \u2014 creating a platform not just to celebrate, but to connect. Attendees had the chance to network, build relationships, and be part of something bigger: a growing professional community for Muslims here in Texas.<\/p>\n<p>MAX Texas was also incredibly humbled to recognize some truly special individuals in the Houston Muslim community for their contributions, through our MAX Awards program. Below are some highlights from the evening, along with photos to keep for your memories.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Awards<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Below are the winners who were recognized at the Gala:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Artist of the Year \u2014 Sara Bawany, Social Worker &amp; Poet<\/li>\n<li>Entrepreneur of the Year \u2014 Asma Mirza, Entrepreneur &amp; CEO<\/li>\n<li>Woman of the Year \u2014 Dr. Ketam Hamdan, Therapist, Educator &amp; Influencer<\/li>\n<li>Professional Excellence Award \u2014 Shazia Siddiqi, Founder &amp; CEO at Let&#8217;s Art About It, LLC.<\/li>\n<li>Charity of the Year \u2014 Islamic Relief USA<\/li>\n<li>Restaurant of the Year Award \u2014 Aga&#8217;s Restaurant &amp; Catering<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Panel Discussion<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We also hosted a panel discussion with four prominent Houston professionals on advancing Muslim success across industries such as medicine, IT, and the nonprofit sector. Our speakers included:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Muna Hussaini: Senior Director, Strategic Programs at Cornerstone on Demand<\/li>\n<li>Dr. Sherif Zaafran: Head of the Texas Medical Board<\/li>\n<li>Dr. Rehal Bhojani: Sports Medicine Physician &#8211; Houston Texans\/Dynamo<\/li>\n<li>Jida Nabulsi: CEO of Amaanah<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make our first Gala such a meaningful milestone. Here&#8217;s to growing together![\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner][vc_column_text css=&#8221;&#8221; woodmart_inline=&#8221;no&#8221; text_larger=&#8221;no&#8221;]MAX Texas was thrilled by the incredible following and support that made our inaugural Gala possible, celebrating<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3237,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[77],"class_list":["post-3234","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-past-events-max-texas","tag-max-cafe"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>MAX Texas Gala 2023 - MAX Texas<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"MAX Texas was thrilled by the incredible following and support that made our inaugural Gala possible, celebrating Muslim excellence with the community in February 2022.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/onemax.org\/texas\/max-texas-inaugral-gala\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MAX Texas Gala 2023 - MAX Texas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MAX Texas was thrilled by the incredible following and support that made our inaugural Gala possible, celebrating Muslim excellence with the community in February 2022.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/onemax.org\/texas\/max-texas-inaugral-gala\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MAX Texas\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-02-28T07:14:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-07-14T03:01:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/onemax.org\/texas\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/202302-MAX-Gala-Houston_7620-Large-e1783923487763.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1280\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"853\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"One MAX\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"One MAX\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/onemax.org\\\/texas\\\/max-texas-inaugral-gala\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/onemax.org\\\/texas\\\/max-texas-inaugral-gala\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"One MAX\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/onemax.org\\\/texas\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/271427f11359bebad55fed104d447181\"},\"headline\":\"MAX Texas Gala 2023\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-02-28T07:14:27+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-07-14T03:01:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/onemax.org\\\/texas\\\/max-texas-inaugral-gala\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":322,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/onemax.org\\\/texas\\\/max-texas-inaugral-gala\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/onemax.org\\\/texas\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/202302-MAX-Gala-Houston_7620-Large-e1783923487763.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"max cafe\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Past Events - 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