How Rep Ilhan Omar got her start in politics;
There are 10 Somali elected officials in Minnesota: including Rep. Ilhan Omar. The latest Somali elected official is Abdi Daisane, whose day center received $7.2 million in taxpayer moneydespite repeated violations, and whose wife reportedly said, “I smuggled myself and jumped over the wall”, and who has just flipped a Minnesota State House seat in St. Cloud.
There are 10 Somali elected officials in Minnesota: including Rep. Ilhan Omar. The latest Somali elected official is Abdi Daisane, whose day center received $7.2 million in taxpayer money despite repeated violations, and whose wife reportedly said, “I smuggled myself and jumped over the wall”, and who has just flipped a Minnesota State House seat in St. Cloud.
The Somali day care center owner joins fellow Somali Minnesota House members Mohamud Noor, Samakab Hussein, and Anquam Mahamoud in the Minnesota State House.
And Somali activists Zaynab Mohamed and Omar Fateh in the Minnesota State Senate.
There are now 4 Somali Minnesota State House and 2 State Senate members, and while there isn’t a single African American woman in the Minnesota State Senate, there are multiple African immigrants, even though African Americans make up 8% of Minnesota and Somalis only 1%.
Other Somali elected officials in the state include Minneapolis Councilman Jamal Osman, St. Louis Park Mayor Nadia Mohamed, and St. Cloud Councilwoman Hudda Ibrahim, whose husband was accused of intimidating voters and who, according to a news story, was caught using an ID with a completely different name during a voter fraud investigation in which a woman in a burka had submitted two absentee ballots.
There are now more Somalis, Kenyans and Nigerians in the Minnesota State House than African Americans. Nevertheless, taxpayers have been funding an organization that trains Somalis to run for political office.
Ayada Leads, formerly headed by Minnesota Sen. Zaynab Mohamed, claims that its mission is to “equip New Americans, particularly African Diaspora Women, to excel in leadership positions”. In reality, Ayada is a Somali word, the directors of Ayada Leads are two Somali women with the last name ‘Abdulle’, its program coordinator is another Somali woman named Sagal Ali, and its elected alumni are Somalis.
Ayada Leads offers to train Somali Muslim candidates in “campaign planning & strategizing”, “fundraising”, “endorsements” and “ground game and field game”.
The site states that, “Congresswoman Ilhan Omar is the first woman Ayada Leads recruited to run for office” and Habon Abdulle, a Somali immigrant from Mogadishu who heads Ayada Leads was honored by Rep. Omar on the House floor and invited as her guest to the State of the Union address in 2020. Ayada has also taken credit for State Sen. Zaynab Mohamed, State Rep. Hodan Hassan, and Mayor Nadia Mohamed of St. Louis Park, MN whom the Somali political training group describes as “the youngest elected official trained by Ayada Leads”.
Ayada Leads is a 501(c)(3) non-profit which means its involvement in electoral politics is already legally problematic, but the Somali training group for political candidates has actually been funded by taxpayers through the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.
In 2023, Propel Nonprofits, a leftist non-profit hub, announced $3.2M in “infrastructure funding” for “56 culturally led nonprofit organizations” including Ayada Leads so that the Somali campaign training group could hire a “Development Manager and a Community Outreach Coordinator to alleviate their current workload”. Under Naima Farah, a Somali Propel leader, and board member at Reviving the Islamic Sisterhood for Empowerment (RISE), the leftist non-profit had also moved money to Ayada Leads as a “Family Engagement Grant”.
That funding round had included not only Ayada Leads, but also the Advancing Equity Coalition, of which Ayada is a member, and two other Somali groups: one named “Somali Success”.
Non-profit money and even taxpayer money has flowed to Ayada Leads despite the fact that the first activity that the Somali organization lists is “Ayada Political Campaign Training.”
“Our Ayada Political Campaign Training is a must for anyone who has the intention to run for public office,” its website states. “It can give you some much-needed clarity on how the political and electoral processes operate, and how you can fit into them. Before throwing your hat in the ring, it is essential that you know what kind of hat you need, and where the ring is located.”
The non-profit’s “campaign school curriculum” has “been developed to support budding political leaders in developing the confidence and skills needed to launch winning campaigns” and promises to introduce students to “top political strategists and trainers” who “will share culturally competent expertise on critical elements of campaigning” including “campaign planning & strategizing”, “fundraising”, “endorsements” and “ground and field game”.
Ayada Leads recruits Somali women looking to get “trained to run for office” or working on a political campaign. And it’s flouting the law by doing it as a 501(c)(3) and taking taxpayer money.
Despite getting a “Family Engagement Grant” through Propel, Ayada’s Engaged Parent Program features photos of Somali women in hijabs and is yet another political activism training program that “provides participants with knowledge, skills, and motivation to take part in decision-making in their cities and states” complete with “voter education programs”.
There is a “Born to Lead Program” featuring photos of Rep. Ilhan Omar with Somali women which once again emphasizes “leadership” and “advocacy”.
Should taxpayers be funding a Somali political training and advocacy program?
Ayada Leads tries to pretend that it has educational programs and is for women in general, but constantly pivots back to political activism and Somali identity. For example, it promotes “Bashaal Events” which it advertises as, “Bashaal gatherings create spaces for women of all backgrounds and identities to come together and share critical information on leadership opportunities and challenges.” Bashaal, like Ayada, is a Somali word and a Somali concept.
Why have Somalis developed more political representation than African-Americans? One reason is because they have benefited from close tribal networks that propel them to power. And those networks have been infused with large amounts of taxpayer and non-profit cash.
