Zainab Mohamed Hassan is the Founder & Chairwoman of Somali Gender Equity Movement (SGEM), a global movement that advocates for and promotes women’s social and economic justice, as well as political equity in the public decision-making arena. She also works as a consultant and researcher for international and local organizations. Previously, Zainab was a Program Officer for The Minneapolis Foundation (TMF), and led the Foundation’s strategic focus area of Transform Education and Capital grants of the community grant making. Zainab has more than 20 years of professional experience working in academic, public, private, non-profit, and philanthropy sectors, and she has served on several advisory boards and committees for local, national and international organizations. Zainab holds a Masters of Public Affairs (MPA) from the Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs (University of Minnesota) and was awarded the Best Individual Masters of Public Affairs Paper for the 2006 graduating class. She also graduated with honors from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia earning a B.S. in Environmental Health with a minor in Chemistry. Zainab also participated in the James P. Shannon Leadership Institute program, and has been the recipient of several fellowships, notably The Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities’ PLACES Fellowship; the Upper Midwest Human Rights Fellowship; and the Otto Bremer Foundation’s Graduate Fellowship on Philanthropy and Human Rights.