Nijad & Zeina Fares
Nijad Fares is the Chairman of Wedge Equities Incorporated, a diversified investment firm. He served as the first president of the American Task Force for Lebanon. He was also the Mayor of Houston’s representative to the Houston Police Officers’ Pension System, a public board with over $2 billion under management, and has served on the Houston Katrina Relief Fund Board and the Gulf Coast Ike Relief Fund Board. In June 2006, Mr. Fares chaired the Host Committee of the U.S.-Arab Economic Forum in Houston, which brought together over one thousand businessmen, government representatives, and academics.
Other community activities include his role as a senior board member of Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, trustee emeritus of Lebanon’s International College and a member of Tufts University’s Veterinary Board of Overseers. Mr. Fares is also a member of the Professional Board of Advisors of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
A past recipient of the American-Arab Chamber of Commerce’s National Businessperson of the Year Award, Mr. Fares received the International Executive of the Year award of the Greater Houston Partnership in October 2005. In 2003, he received the National Order of the Cedar from the Lebanese government. In May of 2006, Mr. Fares received the Ellis Island Medal of Honor for his commitment to community service.
Zeina Fares was the President of the Lebanese Club of Houston from 1996 till 1998. She was also the Founding President of the American Foundation for Auxilia. Currently, she serves on the Board of Trustees of the Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart, and is a Board member of Inprint, a nationally recognized nonprofit literary arts organization. She is also on the Development Committee of the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston.
Nijad and Zeina have been married since 1995, and have four children.