Zaynab Mohamed is a trailblazing state senator, translator, and global leader from South Minneapolis, Minnesota. The youngest woman ever elected to the Minnesota Senate, she made history as its first female Muslim member and one of the few Black women to serve in the chamber. As a proud immigrant and community organiser, Senator Mohamed brings a lived experience to policymaking that centres equity, inclusion, and justice.
She currently serves as Vice Chair of the Senate Jobs and Economic Development Committee, where she played a pivotal role in securing grants and loans to rebuild small businesses following the 2020 civil unrest. She was instrumental in passing Minnesota’s landmark Driver’s License for All legislation, ensuring access to driver’s licenses for all adult residents regardless of immigration status. Her legislative portfolio also includes championing tenant protections, housing assistance, and efforts to address systemic inequality through comprehensive economic policies.
In 2025, Mohamed was selected as a Transatlantic Inclusion Leaders Network (TILN) Fellow, a program that cultivates rising, diverse political leaders across Europe and North America. She will speak at the Brussels Forum in Belgium, where she will highlight the critical role of young people in shaping transatlantic relations and building inclusive democracies.
Mohamed chairs the Minnesota Senate’s People of Colour and Indigenous (POCI) Caucus and is a key voice on the Opioid Epidemic Response Advisory Council, advocating for public health and harm reduction strategies. She is also the legislative architect behind the creation of Minnesota’s Office of New Americans, a groundbreaking state-led network to support immigrant and refugee integration through cross-agency collaboration and policy innovation.
In 2024, Mohamed was named a Young Concordia Leadership Fellow and completed the Bowhay Institute for Legislative Leadership Development, both prestigious programs that recognise visionary public servants driving transformational change.
A graduate of the University of Minnesota with a degree in Human Resource Development, Mohamed brings a uniquely global, intersectional, and youth-centred lens to her work—bridging communities, countries, and generations in the pursuit of a more just and inclusive world.