| Sada Cumber | |
| Order: | 1st |
| Ambassador From: | United States |
| Country: | the Organisation of the Islamic Conference |
| Term Start: | March 3, 2008 |
| Term End: | January 20, 2009 |
| President: | George W. Bush |
| Predecessor: | Position established |
| Successor: | Rashad Hussain |
| Birth Date: | 3 December 1951 |
| Birth Place: | Karachi, Pakistan |
| Education: | University of Karachi (BA, MA) |
| Nationality: | American. Naturalized on July 3, 1986. New York, New York |
Sada Cumber is a Pakistani–American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and diplomat. He is an expert on US foreign policy and national security issues.[1] In 2008, President George W. Bush named him the first U.S. special Envoy to the Organisation of the Islamic Conference, which promotes Muslim solidarity in social and political affairs. In that capacity, Cumber advanced United States interests among the OIC's 57 members nations, including promoting mutual understanding and dialogue[2] while combating intolerance, extremism and the conditions which create it.
Mr. Cumber was born in Karachi, Pakistan in 1951. He holds a bachelor's degree in commerce and a master's degree in history, both from the University of Karachi. As a young adult, he worked in his family's photo studio.[3]
Mr. Cumber came to the United States in 1978 with his wife, Mumtaz, and has been an American citizen since 1986.[4]
Cumber is an entrepreneur and investor. His business background is in senior management, marketing, and imaging technology. As an entrepreneur, Mr. Cumber specializes in national and global network strategy, strategic marketing, business planning and institution building.[5]
After briefly residing in New York, Cumber moved to Miami where he operated a sundries store, a custom mailbox business, and worked nights as a photographer. He acquired a photo lab in Midland, Texas before expanding to Austin, eventually owning seven photo labs in the city.
From small business ownership, Cumber transitioned into entrepreneurship, using his background in photography and photo processing as starting point. Together, Cumber his wife founded more than a dozen enterprises, predominantly in the tech sector, some of which were acquired by Fortune 500 companies.[6]
In 2005 Cumber made his first foray into the diplomatic world as honorary Consul General for the Republic of Malta. He later served two terms as president of the Aga Khan Council for the Southwestern United States.
On March 23, 2008, the Bush named Cumber as special envoy to the Organization of the Islamic Conference,[7] [8] the second-largest intergovernmental organization in the world[9] His responsibilities included improving the dialogue between the United States and the world's 1.6 billion Muslims and enhancing the perception of the United States in the Muslim world. During his term, he traveled to over 40 Muslim countries.
Cumber's accomplishments as special envoy included:
After leaving his state Department post, Cumber resumed an active role in public service and philanthropy, both domestically and internationally.
In 2014, he was named to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board which oversees all public post-secondary education in the state, including setting policies and efforts to improve higher education[10] ., Gov. Rick Perry appointed him to the position because of Cumber's global perspective and ability to apply international best practices to higher education.
Cumber has also served on a diverse range of boards, civic/community organizations, advisory councils, and foundations.[11]
In 2020, Cumber, along with over 130 other former Republican national security officials, signed a statement that asserted that President Trump was unfit to serve another term, and "To that end, we are firmly convinced that it is in the best interest of our nation that Vice President Joe Biden be elected as the next President of the United States, and we will vote for him."[12]
Cumber’s post-diplomatic business career has focused on entrepreneurship and global consulting in technology and other sectors. He has also consulted on behalf of businesses and individuals who have encountered difficulties with the Departments of the Homeland Security, Justice, State, or Treasury. Providing strategic guidance, Cumber has assembled teams of lawyers, consultants, researchers, and appropriate subject matter experts to help these individuals and entities successfully resolve their issues or mitigate the potential penalties they face.
In an editorial in The Hill, Cumber argued for the importance of foreign aid in advancing US interests while also suggesting that the Trump Administration's proposed budget cuts could be an opportunity to make needed reforms in the US foreign aid system.[13] Though a Republican, Cumber argued in an op-ed for the Austin American-Statesman that President Trump had undermined American values and eroded confidence in the political process, and said it was time to place the presidency above the president.[14]
Cumber attributes his success as a businessman and diplomat to his grounding in Sufism, a mystical form of Islam emphasizing mindfulness of God above ritual and which he credits for giving him a spiritual direction emphasizing peace, tolerance, and pluralism. Cumber was first exposed to Sufi philosophy as a boy in Karachi through listening to Ginans and Qawwali music.
These early encounters led Cumber to explore the historically and culturally rich Sufi heritage of Sindh and Punjab. He was especially influenced by Sufi saints and reformers such as Abdul Latif Bhittai, one of the greatest poets of the Sindhi language, and Punjabi philosopher Bulleh Shah, known as “The Father of Punjabi Enlightenment.”
Cumber named his daughter Rabia in honor of Rabia Basri, the Arab Muslim saint and Sufi mystic, who believed that for one who truly loved God, that love alone should be enough without the promise of heaven or the threat of Hell.
Cumber cites Sufi ideas of empathy for helping develop the skill of putting himself in the place of the other, allowing a broad, inclusive perspective in entrepreneurship to diplomacy to philanthropy.
Cumber lives in Sugar Land, Texas, a suburb south of Houston, with his wife Mumtaz.[15] They have two children and three grandchildren.