Richard Muhammad, media consultant and founder of Straight Words Communications (www.straightwords.net), has over 20 years experience as a media professional. He currently handles communications for the Chicago Rehab Network. A former communications director for the National Training and Information Center and the National Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, Muhammad has worked for diverse causes that range from LISC Chicago’s New Communities Program to the Mississippi Hurricane Katrina Media Center, in Biloxi, Miss.

Muhammad has conducted training sessions for the Washington-based Environmental Leadership Project, the Gale Cincotta Leadership Institute, in Chicago, the Community Media Workshop, in Chicago, and presented at national conferences devoted to worker rights, community housing and banking issues, and independent publishing. He also worked on media coverage for the Immigrant Worker Freedom Ride, Million Man March, as well as major mobilizations related to immigrant rights, efforts to highlight the plight of Hurricane Katrina survivors and other important topics.

Muhammad grew up in Baltimore, Md., and is a proud graduate of Morgan State University.