Meet Aisha

As your City Councilmember, I fight for working people everyday. I am a champion for the people in our ward, and across the city, that are often forgotten — renters, Black, Indigenous, and people of color, immigrants, students, our unhoused neighbors, and working class people.

I believe that our City Council should look like the people in our neighborhoods: people who know poverty and hardship, people who have student loan debt and have to move wherever they can afford to live, people who know what it’s like to have to help your immigrant parents navigate the world, or to make hard choices like whether to buy groceries or make rent.

That daily struggle of trying to make ends meet is one I have known my entire life. My parents were immigrants with blue collar jobs, who fought to keep their heads above water as they raised my three siblings and me. And sometimes they couldn’t. Things shouldn’t be that hard.

I’m a renter, and I’ve been one for most of my life. I’ve lived in the Wedge and now I live in Whittier. I moved to Ward 10 because it’s one of the last places in the city with affordable housing, but I was able to find a home because we fight to keep our neighbors here. Getting involved in the struggle to protect people’s homes — through the important work of Inquilinxs Unidxs — was a huge part of what helped me find community here. 

I’ve been working since I was young, I got my start in retail and childcare. I’ve spent most of my career working to elect progressive and socialist candidates. I served as Campaign Manager to Congresswoman Ilhan Omar, and worked on campaigns like Erin Murphy for Governor, Raymond Dehn for Mayor, and Bernie Sanders for President. While working at Take Action Minnesota, I also worked to elect progressives to the St. Paul, Minnetonka, and Duluth City Councils. 

And while serving as the political organizer for Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Minnesota State Council, I invested in leadership and power development of our member leaders and led our member driven political action program in support of policy issues related to health care, worker safety, and school funding. I also worked to mobilize our members to support candidates who supported those issues.

In 2019, I entered into the DFL Women’s Hall of Fame as a Rising Star. I’ve also served Vice Chair to the CD5 DFL, helped found the Muslim Caucus of the Young Democrats of America, and managed the first TCDSA-endorsed campaign for the Minnesota Legislature.

Some of the most meaningful things I’ve accomplished have been grassroots and in community. After the murder of George Floyd, I helped lead my neighbors in Whittier to come together and keep one another safe when white nationalists were threatening us and we couldn’t rely on emergency services. In difficult times, it’s always been a strong community that’s gotten me through. That spirit of mutual support and aid is what I love so much about living here.

In my time at city hall, I am proud to have worked collaboratively with our community organizations and our unions. I worked closely with immigrant rights activists to move some important community demands in Minnesota Immigrant Rights Action Committee’s (MIRAC) Immigrant Power Now campaign. I was honored to stand beside our educators, students, and families during the Minneapolis Federation of Teachers and Educational Support Professionals Strike for the safe and stable schools that Minneapolis students deserve.

In the City Council chambers, I have seen over and over again the ways community comes together and shows up for one another to push for a more humane and just Minneapolis. By working across the city to elect a progressive majority, we can make our vision for Minneapolis a reality. That’s what our campaign is about — I hope you’ll join us.

Join me in the fight for a Minneapolis that works for everyone.