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Omer Omer,
Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Geography: Community Economic Development, Urban Planning, and Geographic Information Science, University of North Carolina at Greensboro; MS in Geography, Third World Development and Political Ecology, University of London, United Kingdom; B.A in Geography, Rural Development, University of Khartoum, Sudan; Program Director/Case Manager, North Carolina African Services Coalition Inc.
Tel: 336.574.2677
Email: omeromer@bellsouth.net

Biographical Information

Omer Omer was forced to flee from his home country of Sudan and a career in public television and was accepted as a refugee in Great Britain where he completed a Master's Degree in Community Development. He was accepted to the US on a diversity visa in the mid nineties. After living briefly in Florida and Georgia, Omer settled on Greensboro as his new home and was one of the first Sudanese arrivals in the area.

In 1999, Omer began his first of two years of service as a CNNC, AmeriCorps ACCESS Project Member. He was placed with the African Services Coalition (ASC), an innovative nonprofit that strives to serve newcomers from many African countries represented in the NC Piedmont. After two years of service through AmeriCorps, Omer became the director of ASC and helped to institutionalize a process for managing contracts from the State of NC to assist refugees. In addition to providing services to newcomers, the ASC works to foster cooperation between African newcomers of numerous countries, and facilitates cooperation between African immigrant communities and mainstream service providers.

Omer is recognized across the spectrum of African immigrant communities and American service providers as a diplomat. He has frequently demonstrated his ability to help people from the same country of origin, who represent different tribes, religions or political persuasions, to come together for the common good. A case in point is the now burgeoning Sudanese community in Greensboro. While the vast majority of Sudanese are Muslims from the north, a Southern Sudanese Christian refugee community has also settled in the Piedmont. They were surprised to find that hundreds of Muslim northerners helped in their resettlement process here. Similar cooperative groups that cut across tribe, race, and country, have come together through Omer's diplomatic efforts.

A devout Muslim, Omer is also known by many American colleagues for his genuineness, his compassion, and his ability to lift up the mantle of inter-faith sharing and cooperation beyond the tragedy of 9/11. His efforts to bring together people of faith and moderation at mosques, churches, temples, and synagogues, for the common good of our shared community, provides a rich insight into our community and our potential for growth through mutual respect and understanding of our sacred traditions.

CNNC Research Fellow/
AmeriCorps ACCESS Project, Professional Corps Member, 2006-07
Omer Omer participated in the CNNC Research Fellows and AmeriCorps ACCESS Project Professional Corps initiatives in 2006-07. As a Research Fellow and a Professional Corps member, he continues to research and document the various African communities and nationalities, who come to live in North Carolina. Through his organization, North Carolina African Services Coalition, he helps newcomers to adjust and connect to their established communities who have settled here since the 60s, 70s, 80s, and the 1990s.

He facilitates leadership trainings among these communities and oversees their community building process. North Carolina African Services Coalition, which he directs, is a coalition of 18 different African states all of which are represented on the board.

In April 2007, during the Second Biennial Conference on New Immigrant Realities, Omer presented a Power Point presentation about the political geography of Africa and the implication of civil wars and power struggles in the continent. His presentation also included information about the African refugees and immigrants who live in Guilford county and the challenges they present to the community.

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