Voice for Refuge: Our Stories Carried Us Here

Zaynab Abdi a Black, Muslim, Middle Eastern, and immigrant woman who is passionate about social justice and advocacy. She graduated magna cum laude from Saint Catherine University with a bachelor’s degree in political science, international studies, and philosophy. In Spring 2023, she will be graduating from Columbia University with a Master’s in Public Administration in Development Practice (MPA-DP). Zaynab worked alongside the youngest-ever Nobel Peace Prize winner, Malala Yousafzai, as a youth advocate for girls’ education. She has spoken at the United Nations several times, and her story was featured in several books: Green Card Youth Voices: Immigration Stories from a Minneapolis High School (2015), Malala’s book We Are Displaced (2019), and Our Stories Carried Us Here (2021). In 2019, Zaynab was appointed by Minnesota Governor Tim Walz’s office to serve in the Young Women’s Cabinet. Currently, Zaynab works as the Strategy & Futures Fellow with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). In her free time, Zaynab enjoys playing soccer, biking, and mentoring emerging young leaders to be a powerful force for change.