Awale Osman (Minneapolis, Minnesota)

One of the goals of the Excellence Profiles is to showcase different career paths and celebrate our Somali people who are thriving in these industries. Today we bring you Awale Osman who studied both liberal arts and communications at North Hennepin Community College and Augsburg College, respectively. He currently works as a Community Innovation Associate at the Bush Foundation, which is a nonprofit that supports philanthropic organizations and people.

We asked Awale what led him to his career and this is what he told us: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ "A three year employment fellowship opened the door to my first job in philanthropy. I am proud to serve as a grantmaker coaching and enabling creative, inclusive and community-empowering public work across a 3 state region at a private foundation stewarding over $10 million each year where I manage a portfolio of 16 grantees in over $5 million. Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined myself in such a role. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Prior to switching careers to philanthropy, I managed a number of retention initiatives at area colleges focused on increasing the persistence and graduation of low-wealth, first generation college students, and students with disabilities using a holistic model of individualized and targeted interventions." ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Masha'Allah! We are so inspired by Awale's dedication to making a difference and wish him the best!