Abdi, Zaynab: - 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 bachelors degree in political science, international studies, and philosophy. In Spring 2023, she will be graduating from Columbia University with a Masters 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), Malalas book We Are Displaced (2019), and Our Stories Carried Us Here (2021). In 2019, Zaynab was appointed by Minnesota Governor Tim Walzs office to serve in the Young Womens 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. nn n nn