Dr. Amaal V.E. Tokars has spent her professional career working in the diverse arena of human services and is the author of the upcoming book, America & Iraq: Seduced By Fear. She has committed much time and research to topics related to leadership and policy.

Her interests range from adult education and community development to crisis intervention, crisis response, and cultural competence. Dr. Tokars is Canadian, Iraqi, a citizen of the United States and has been educated in the United States.

She resides in the Chicago area with her husband and two sons. It is her hope that her work will promote dialogue on the meaning of citizenship in a global society. She hopes that all citizens will be valued as having a voice in the shaping of their own history. Amaal means “many hopes” in Arabic.

Following is an excerpt from an interview taken in May 2006

Good evening, Dr. Tokars. Tell us, where did you grow up?
Good evening and please call me Amaal. I was born in Ontario, Canada. My mother is Iraqi-born and my father is US-born. I became a naturalized citizen of the United States when my mother gained her citizenship. She was educated in the Chicago area.

Tell us about your family…(married? kids? etc.)
I am married to my best friend and have two sons.

That is so refreshing to hear that you married your best friend! Tell me, Amaal, when you were a child, what did you hope to do when you grew up?
When I was young, I was very interested in topics related to the human sciences and in studying history. As a college student I found myself being keenly interested in the relationship between the human condition and the historical condition. I studied sociology and minored in history. After my undergrad, I did research in the corporate sector, but yearned to delve more deeply into areas related to leadership, policy, and social change. I completed graduate school, including a doctoral degree. I studied Family Science with an emphasis on marriage and family therapy. I concluded my formal education with a degree in adult education and a cognate in anthropology.

What are your hobbies/interests?
My interests very much continue to be related to the nurturing of my sons, the nurturing of all those who I serve through my work, and the nurturing of meaningful social change. I also refresh myself through the preparation of good food, through the innocent radiance of animals and nature, and through time spent with dear friends. My interests are the recreation of daily life.

How did you become a Human Services Administrator?
I was doing research in the corporate sector and was preparing to have a family. I became keenly aware that I wanted to work and stay home with my children. I made a career change from the corporate realm to the human services realm. I gave up my directorship for an evening position, and took a significant cut in pay. I eventually went from being a counselor in the human services realm, to being manager, to being director, to being administrator.

What is most interesting about your work?
What is most satisfying to me about my work is that I am blessed to be working with such beautiful people who are so honored to be serving others. It is most pleasing to me to know that such work can be very effective in contributing to the well-being of families, in contributing to the well-being of community, and in creating space for social change. It has been quite impressive to me that I have met so many people over the years who make a relatively modest income and continue to be inspired by those they seek to serve.

What was one of the most interesting places that you have traveled to?
I have traveled to many places in the world. Even more than the spectacular geography, I have been privileged to interact with diverse world cultures. Each race of people are equally precious and all possess their own beauty. I have been particularly struck by the graceful handsomeness of Spain, the harmonious marriage of modernism and tradition manifested in Japan, and the magnificent society that was Iraq.

If there were anything that people didn’t know you are, what would you say?
I ran men’s cross-country in high school.

Is there any cause that you feel passionately about?
I feel passionately about causes that contribute to or take away from social justice and, consequently, from the well-being of the human condition.

What was one of the most significant events of the 80s?
As a child, I was starkly awakened during the time of the Iranian Hostage Crisis to the profound relationship between text and image. It has not left me since.