Dallas Business Journal: Get to know Almas Muscatwalla, a recent appointee to the city’s DHA board of commissioners

DHA board of commissioners member Almas Muscatwalla has spent most of her life as a community volunteer.

Muscatwalla has lived in the United States since 1998, and for the first few years of her life, she focused on her kids and being a devoted mom. But as her kids started getting older, she wanted to step out of her bubble and explore North Texas.

“I began by being available and accessible to more interfaith and cultural base affairs of North Texas,” Muscatwalla said in a recent interview. “I would attend anything related to interfaith, and that led me to then become part of Thanks-Giving Foundation, and my journey there was for a whole decade.”

Muscatwalla was appointed to the DHA, Housing Solutions for North Texas board of commissioners in October. The board is appointed by the mayor and is responsible for financial oversight and setting policy.

After stepping out of her cocoon, Muscatwalla co-founded Faith Forward Dallas, a coalition of faith leaders across religions to stand for social issues including homelessness, migrant and refugee issues, gun violence and racial equity, in 2015. She served as the executive director of Faith Forward Dallas until 2022 and continues to serve in leadership roles across educational, arts and cultural sectors of the community including for Texas Muslim Women’s Foundation, Islamic Art Revival and Compassionate DFW.

“When I founded Faith Forward Dallas, I really got a sense of the issues of Dallas, particularly the issues of homelessness,” Muscatwalla said.

“I just retired from my role as executive director, then I was offered this opportunity. This is unreal because this is a solution-based organization. It’s affordable housing, (but) we also have one more caveat, which is quality. We seek to serve marginalized communities to be in a place where they can thrive and not just survive,” she continued.

Muscatwalla spoke with the Dallas Business Journal about becoming a community leader, how her past volunteer and leadership positions inform her current role and what she wants to accomplish this year.

You’ve spent a lot of time serving the community. Has being a community leader something you’ve always wanted to do? 

I was a community volunteer, and then I cultivated myself into being a community leader. It’s taken me a good 10 to 12 years to cultivate myself because one may have the desire to serve the community, but one may not have the pulse of what the issues are. The community has been very reciprocating to my desire to serve. There has been an awesome exchange of giving and learning in which I’ve cultivated myself.

One thing that is important to know is that I’m driven by my faith, which is the Shia Ismaili faith. It is very important as a faithful Ismaili Muslim to be able to offer my time and knowledge for the betterment of the larger community.

This idea of community engagement, civic engagement and being concerned about the issues of the community, has been core to my faith.

I have not earned a single dollar in my life. I’ve been a full-time community volunteer my entire life, even when I was in Mumbai. It’s really core to my existence and, it’s an extension of my faith. It’s an extension of my family values. It’s an extension of my call.