Sami DiPasquale

Sami’s vision for Abara grew out of 15 years of community development work on the border at Ciudad Nueva Community Outreach. Sami is a global citizen with vast experience in refugee and immigrant communities. Born in Jordan, He spent the majority of his childhood and young adult years in the Middle East. He also lived in Cyprus, Egypt and then India – before completing college in the United States.

Sami has a BA in International Development from Wheaton College. And he holds an MBA from the University of Texas at El Paso. Sami has served on a number of boards including Micah Global, the Interfaith Alliance of the Southwest, and the Christian Community Development Association (leading the global connections committee). All are networks striving for flourishing communities free from poverty and injustice. He helped form a number of local and regional groups focused on poverty alleviation and bridge-building in the business, community development and faith sectors. Sami’s driving motivation is to join others, close and far, in bridging divides and cultivating spaces for sustainability and collective flourishing.  

Sami is fascinated by the history and dynamics of the borderlands, drawn to explore both the beauty and the pain that define these regions, with a particular interest in the intersection of global and local narratives. Sami loves meeting people, traveling, backpacking through mountains, and stumbling across back alley hangouts in unfamiliar cities. He finds great joy in discovering beauty in unlikely places. Sami and his family live in the Rio Grande District, a beautiful historic community in the heart of El Paso, TX.

Sami’s kindness, thoughtfulness, openness and his heart for others sets the tone for our team and our work. His leadership and dream for Abara is a profound gift to our team and to so many others.