Yaser Tabbara

Yaser is the former chairman of the American Relief Coalition for Syria and the co-founder of the Syrian Forum, the Omran Center for Strategic Studies and the Local Administration Councils Unit (LACU). An international human rights attorney, Yaser served as legal advisor and spokesperson for the Syrian Interim Government, the National Coalition of Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces, and the Syrian National Council, of which he was a founding member. He is a frequent media contributor and commentator on issues related to  Syria, the region and American Muslim and Arab communities.

Born in Chicago and raised in Damascus, Yaser returned to the United States in 1993 to attend the University of Illinois, Chicago, where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Economics. In 2002, he earned a Juris Doctor degree from DePaul University College of Law with a focus on International Criminal and Human Rights Law. 

Yaser has worked with the International Bar Association to support judicial and legal reform in Syria, and he has taught courses related to public international law at the University of Kalamoon in Syria. 

An advocate for civil rights, Yaser co-founded and directed several initiatives such as CAIR, a Chicago-based civil right organization and Project Mobilize, a platform to support disenfranchised political candidates in the Chicagoland area. He also served as the first executive director of the Syrian American Council (SAC). 

Yaser started his public interest career by initiating the Post-9/11 Immigrant Legal Rights Project at the Midwest Immigrant and Human Rights Center (currently NIJC of Heartland Alliance) and coordinated an Iraqi Legal Education Reform Project at the International Human Rights Law Institute of DePaul Collage of Law. 

Beside his public interest activities, Yaser advises a group of international investors on legal and business development issues and manages his solo law practice in Chicago, US. Prior to that, he was the managing partner of Zarzour, Khalil, Tabbara, LLC, a Chicago-based law firm with multiple offices in the region.