Wisam Qasem Fakhoury is the Chief Financial Officer at ACCESS, where her expertise in accounting principles and her meticulous eye for detail have been pivotal to the development of an $18 million nonprofit organization.
Her sharp financial analysis has contributed to the fiscally sound expansion of key departments, contributing to the growth of ACCESS into the largest Arab American human services nonprofit organization in the United States.
Wisam received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan-Dearborn in 1994, and a master’s degree in business administration from the same institution in 2002. Her academic focus areas included Managerial Computer Information Systems, Managerial Human Resources and Managerial Business Operations.
After six years in the private sector, Wisam joined ACCESS in 2000. She currently supervises the ACCESS accounting staff and overseas all accounting functions. Her responsibilities also include tracking, budgeting and long-range financial planning; creating and communicating board and executive-level financial presentations; and making recommendations regarding financial processes and improvements.
A wife and mother of three boys, Wisam also keeps busy with community service. She sits on the Finance Committee of Mosaic Youth Theatre in Detroit. In addition, she is a founding member of the Suad Alie and Friends Fundraiser Committee for Ovarian Cancer. Since 2005, the committee has raised more than $50,000 for Karmanos Cancer Institute in honor of the late Suad Alie, through a major annual event to benefit cancer research.
She is also newly appointed to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF), the leading global organization funding Type 1 diabetes research, as a chapter board member. JDRF’s goal is to progressively remove the impact of diabetes from people’s lives until they achieve a world without illness. As a newly appointed board member, Wisam will dedicate her time in the pursuit of curing, treating, and preventing Type 1 diabetes.