Recognizing, Bilal Abdul Qayyum on the occasion of his retirement and honoring and celebrating his long time commitment and dedicated service to the City of Philadelphia.

WHEREAS, Bilal Abdul Qayyum has been a devoted civil servant to the City of Philadelphia for over thirty years. In his time with the City, Mr. Qayyum has been a steadfast contributor to the welfare and betterment of the Philadelphia citizens in general and underserved youth and minority business owners in particular; and

WHEREAS, In 1979, Bilal Qayyum began his service to the City as Director of Community and Youth Employment

in the Office of Housing and Community Development. In this capacity, he worked to organize programs that assisted countless young African Americans in developing their entrepreneurial leadership skills; and

WHEREAS, Bilal Qayyum worked as the Executive Assistant at Philadelphia Citywide Development Corporation where he served as the coordinator for the City Minority Participation Oversight Committee for the Gallery II project. Under his leadership 19 minority owned businesses opened in Gallery II; 35% of all construction contracts went to minority owned contractors; and 75% of jobs went to Philadelphia residents; and

WHEREAS, Bilal Qayyum served as the Economic Administrator for the Department of Commerce and among his many accomplishments established a supermarket development program in the north and west neighborhoods of the City; and

WHEREAS, Throughout his years with the City, Bilal Abdul Qayyum’s ongoing dedication to social activism has extended beyond the board room and into the streets of Philadelphia. He is the President and Executive Director of the

Father’s Day Rally Committee, Inc.

and a founding member of the

Africa American Chamber of Commerce

. With these organizations and his extensive involvement in community organizations, Bilal Qayyum has given many Philadelphians the opportunity to realize their dreams, improve their lives and empower their communities; and

WHEREAS, The true spirit of activism is exemplified by the character and steadfastness of Bilal Abdul Qayyum and is evidenced by the proactive engagement of the youth today that he directly influenced. The countless minority entrepreneurs who are successful today will surely miss the direct engagement of Bilal Qayyum; now therefore

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA,

That we hereby recognize, Bilal Abdul Qayyum on the occasion of his retirement and honor and celebrate his long time commitment and dedicated service to the City of Philadelphia.

FURTHER RESOLVED,

That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Mr. Bilal Abdul Qayyum as evidence of the sincere sentiments of this legislative body.

End