Posts tagged Leadership
A Legacy of Community Love

All that I know about community care and community service is what I learned from the example of my grandparents and my parents. They taught me that we each have a duty to use our particular talents in service of our people. Since my grandfather was a chef in the navy and my grandmother was a kitchen manager for a nursing home, a major part of their contribution to the community was cooking. They would spend hours in the kitchen preparing meals to give away.

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Owning My Story and Becoming Minnesota’s First Somali Woman School Principal

My lived experience has instilled in me a commitment to proudly writing my own story while encouraging others to own their stories. I have been held back by the system, and I know that others like me have been dismissed in classrooms and educational settings. This work is deeply personal because I know that I can use my mental health training, coaching experience, principal training, and doctorate in education to make education work for every student, family, teacher, building administrator, and district staff. 

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Muslim Philanthropy: A Tradition of Abundance

When I was a child, the month before Ramadan, my immigrant parents would sit at the kitchen table with my sister and me to discuss how our family could give back. They would tell us about a family relative back in India who could use our help. Maybe it was for something critical, like surgery; or something invaluable, like education; or something practical, like a sewing machine! My working-class family’s support was not extravagant, but we did what we could. This experience taught me that, even as a child, I had the power to make a transformational difference in others’ lives. 

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