Ayyub Hanif (Baltimore City)
Black History Month Leadership & Service Honoree Ayyub Hanif is an accomplished registered nurse entrepreneur and professor, with the belief that “service is a core tenant of being human, and that the social good truly is a responsibility upon all of us.” He is also the CEO of INGE Benevolent Ministries and co-founder of Muslimat Al-Nisaa, a health and social services nonprofit that provides shelter to homeless Muslim families and social support to the community at large.
During the early days of the pandemic, Hanif utilized his position at Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing to access the most up-to-date research on COVID-19 to purchase and distribute thousands of quality cloth (with filter), PM2.5 Surgical, and N95 face masks to anybody he could find that needed them (at the time individuals were selling numerous fake products at excessive prices to the needy). Recognizing the serious health implications of misinformation coupled with the lack of administrative infrastructure to withstand a health emergency of this magnitude, he reallocated a large portion of our budget towards direct community and social support. According to him, the initiative would require him to “rapidly retool, repurpose, and reallocate our human resources because we aren’t prepared to respond to a domestic emergency of this magnitude for this long.” Being a nurse he purchased a MERV13 air purifier for the front lobby of his condo and gave masks to the frontline staff and guests for free. Additionally, he distributed and gave food to houseless people, cash grants to the homeless, transportation support, and information to families in need. To him the mission was clear, the time it would take to respond to an unknown virus that we are just learning about would be too long and people would suffer as we figured it out.
As 2020 concluded, Hanif’s pandemic response shifted to centering domestic humanitarian relief framework and building a FEMA-esque volunteer action network. Specifically, issues of domestic violence, food and nutrition, diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, healthcare education, direct healthcare services, housing and shelter services, nonprofit and volunteer management, domestic humanitarian aid and relief (particularly for rural areas), environmental sustainability, literacy and learning, community grant-giving, business administration and support services, and COVID-19 vaccine, testing, and information campaigns.
Hanif is also a social venture capitalist and brand consultant. He is equipped with over 20 years of demonstrated experience in startup development, entertainment, and brand management. Hanif’s health care experience includes past positions as a Registered Nurse in Transplant Surgery, a Certified Clinical Transplant Coordinator, Program Manager of Care Coordinator, and Adjunct Faculty at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing. He became a Registered Nurse to better the human condition and subsequently leverage his nursing skillset, media background, and business acumen as an adept social entrepreneur.
Hanif stated, “my nursing background is in transplant surgery and care coordination, specifically looking at the transition of care and how people fall through the cracks. So really the issues that COVID presents turned right into my field of view and my work with entrepreneurship lets me respond with multiple interventions quickly to the consumer.”
Hanif received a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Master’s degree in Health Services Leadership and Management from the University of Maryland School of Nursing (UMSON). Subsequently, he received his Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Baltimore and is currently working towards a Doctorate of Nursing Practice.
Hanif considers himself a change architect who focuses on utilizing upstream thinking to create venture partnerships that address unresolved community problems.
