User:Ashraf Elgamal

Ashraf Elgamal was born in 1962 in The City of Port Said in Egypt. He is the youngest of 3 siblings, 2 brothers and 1 sister. His father worked as an Administrative Director in the Education Department. In 1968 Elgamal’s family was forced to immigrate to Cairo, the capital of Egypt, due to the war between Egypt and Israel at that time.

Ashraf continued his education in Cairo and in 1985 he graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Cairo and received his B.A. in Graphic Design & Carton Animation. In 1992 he received a third place ranking completing his Master Degree.

Ashraf was always an active student during his 20 years of education. During his junior & high school years, he was an Athletic game champion in the hundred meter hurdle. He was also a Boy Scout leader. In his last 2 years of the university, he was elected as the chairman of the students union.

In 1976 Ashraf was selected to represent his country Egypt in the Arab World students exchange hosted in Rabat Morocco. In 1982 he was selected to present Egypt in international student exchange in Vienna Austria.

Ashraf started his professional career very early in 1981 while he was a student at the Faculty of Fine Arts, and after his graduation he established his own Graphic Design, Advertising & Events Agency in 1986.

In 1995 Ashraf Organized the Miss Egypt Pageant in cooperation with the Egyptian Tourism Department. In 1996 he was selected to participate in the Youth Soccer World Cup Organization Committee, and in 1998 he established and organized the Cultural & Arts Ramadan nights in Cairo which was a 30 day event.

In 2001 Ashraf moved to the United States. He established his first business in the IT field for internet web hosting, domain name registration and web design. In 2005 he established his 2nd business in electronics. Creating his own brand name ASHROTI for GPS systems, trackers, media players and accessories. Working in the IT & Electronics fields, Mr. Elgamal has become an expert in eCommerce, and currently owns over 100 web sites.

In 2006 Mr. Elgamal founded the annual Arab American Festival. The festival is a Non-political, Non-religious, Non-profit Organization established to build community pride nationwide and showcases the diversity of music, dance, arts, and cultures. Multi-generational and multi-cultural families gather to enjoy music, arts and crafts, entertainment, children’s activities, and services from local businesses, foods and vendors. The Arab American Festival is an exploration of the rich culture and history of the world’s oldest civilization. The festival targets all Americans to create an awareness of the diverse ethnic groups while having fun. The festival promotes the culture of 22 Arab nations in the USA.

In 2009, Just 3 years later, the Arab American Festival became one of the largest multi-cultural events in The United States. The Festival is now a national event being held in numerous states. The 2010 event in the state of Arizona gathered an average of 35,000 people from different backgrounds including American, Arab, Hispanic, Indian and many more communities.

In 2008 he established the Arab American Association. The Arab American Association is a Non-political, Non-religious, Non-profit Organization established to serve and present the Arab American Community. The organization mission is to document, preserve, celebrate, and educate the public on the history, life, culture and contributions of Arab Americans.

In 2009 Mr. Elgamal has announced his dream was coming true, when he founded the annual Arizona International Festival which started on May 28th, 2011. This event is to be the largest multi-cultural event ever in the Southwest area of The US and includes the cultures of Native Americans, Latinos, Arabs, Asians, Europeans, Africans and Caribbeans, the whole world in one place.

In 2009 he also established the Arab TV1 station. The goal behind the TV station is to promote the Arab culture worldwide and showcase the diversity of Arabic music, dance, arts, and cultures.

In 2010 Mr. Elgamal has founded the first Miss Arab USA Pageant. The Annual Pageant is founded on the basis of advancing the cause for women of Arab descent. The Pageant is a charity event for the community, uniting Arabs and friends of Arabs in celebrating the Arab cultural heritage in this great nation of The United States of America.

Even with all the above listed events and successes, Mr. Elgamal still is very active and has a lot of other projects which he is promising huge success in the future, so keep watching.

Mr. Elgamal loves traveling, his wide range of traveling gave him greeat experience and understanding about the Cultures all around the world. He has visited Hong Kong, China, Russia, Austria, Germany, Swiss, Hungary, Italy, Turkey, U.A.E., Jordan, Morocco, Greece, USA, and of course his home country Egypt. Ashraf is more than a unique person when it comes to cultural understanding.

Mr. Elgamal is married and has 3 daughters. His oldest daughter Amanda received the President's Education Award for Outstanding Academic Achievement from president Gorge W. Bush in 2003, so obviously his children want to follow in his honorable footsteps.