Ilhan Abdullahi Omar
Photo of Ilhan posing for her campaign photo.
Ilhan was born in the Capital City Mogadishu, Somalia after which she and her family fled Somalia to escape the civil war. They spent four years in a Refugee Camp located in Garissa County, Kenya. Ilhan and her family arrived in New York in 1992 and then settled in Minneapolis.
Ilhan graduated from North Dakota State University in 2011 with a Bachelor’s Degree in political science and international studies. In addition, she was a Fellow at the University f Minnesota’s Humphrey School of Public Affairs.
Ilhan’s career started off as a Community Nutrition educator at the University of Minnesota for three years. She started her political career in 2013 managing Andrew Johnson’s campaign for Minneapolis City Council.
In 2015, Ilhan became the Director of Policy Initiatives of the Women Organizing Women Network. This organization advocates for East African women to take on civic and political leaders such as herself.
In 2018, Ilhan ran for the United States House of Representatives from Minnesota’s 5th congressional district and won. Ilhan became the first Somali American elected to the U. S. Congress, she is the first African- American woman to serve as a U.S. Representative from Minnesota.
Photo of Ilham Omar supporting Bernie Sanders at one of his campaign stops.
lhan identifies as a democratic socialist who supports broader access to student loan forgiveness programs, medicare for all and is opposed to the efforts to seal the U.S. -Mexico border.
Ilhan received the 2015 community Leadership Award from Mshale, which is awarded to individuals who represent leadership. Also, in 2017, Time magazine named Ilhan its “ Firsts: Women who are changing the world.” This award is given to women who break barriers in their respective disciplines. She was featured on the cover of Time magazine September 18 issue.
Currently, Ilhan is still a member of Congress, she has found herself a group of like-minded people of colour- women Congress members who work collectively to pass laws to better the racialized divide in the U.S.