Sagal Ali is a Somali-American community activist that has worked to address the needs of communities in poverty in the United States and in developing countries. Ms. Ali currently serves as a...
Champions of Change: American Diaspora Communities
On Monday, January 30th, the White House honored 14 leaders in American Diaspora communities with roots in the Horn of Africa as Champions of Change. These leaders are helping to build stronger neighborhoods in communities across the country, and are working to mobilize networks across borders to address global challenges.
Semhar Araia is founder and Executive Director of the Diaspora African Women's Network (DAWN), an organization whose mission is to develop and support talented women and girls of the African...
Tebabu's longtime passion in cultural promotion, work in media to promote African culture, and his use of stories to excite markets for African products has resulted in a new model, which creates...
Ilhan Dahir is a student at The Ohio State University, an interfaith leader, a writer and an active member of the Somali-American community of Central Ohio. She is a member of the First Year...
Mohamed “MJ” Jama is a high school senior at Ubah Medical Academy. He is an active youth leader across the Twin Cities representing the concerns and viewpoints of Somali American youth. At a time...
Fatima co-founded Iftiin, the Somali Forum for Leadership and Development to connect professionals, students and communities in the global Somali Diaspora. During the famine crisis this past...
Working at the intersection of academia and social entrepreneurship, Dr. Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg is passionate about the synergy between rigorous academic analysis and committed social activism....
Nunu Kidane is from Eritrea; she’s lived and worked in the San Francisco/Bay Area for over two decades. Since graduating from U.C. Berkeley, she’s worked and written extensively on Africa policy...
Nini Legesse is the president of a dynamic non-profit organization called Wegene Ethiopian Foundation (WEF) which she founded with the help of her friends and family members in the year 2000....
Solome Lemma is a philanthropist, activist, and organizer. She is currently a grantmaking program advisor at The Global Fund for Children (GFC). For over five years, she served as GFC’s Senior...
Dr. Christine Martey-Ochola, a native of Kenya, is co-founder of the Sub-Saharan Africa Chamber of Commerce, an organization that facilitates trade and investment between the US and Africa. Under...
TMS Ruge is currently serving as the lead social media strategist for the Connect4Climate campaign at the World Bank. In 2007, he cofounded Project Diaspora, an online platform for mobilizing,...
A native of Ethiopia, Dr. Tsehaye Teferra received his undergraduate degree from Haile Selassie I University in Addis Ababa. He served as a cross-cultural instructor in the Peace Corps’ in-country...
Abdi is the Executive Director of the Somali Documentary Project and a visiting scholar at the Center for African Studies at the Ohio State University. He uses art and photography to advocate for...