Alumni

Huda Ahmed

Huda Ahmed
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Cohort Start Year: 2018 Project Topics: Built Environment/Housing/Planning, Business/Private Sector, Community/Civic Engagement, Leadership Development Populations Served: African-American/Black, Asian/Asian American, At-Risk/Vulnerable Populations, Low-Income Communities, Native/Tribal/Indigenous People, Southwest Asian and/or North African (SWANA)
Founder and Principal
Transformational Solutions

FOCUS
There are efforts across Minnesota to address glaring inequities in education, health, and economic well-being. However, much of these efforts are siloed within organizations, lacking collaboration and coordination across the different points of the system for greater collective impact. Impacted communities are often not engaged in co-defining the issue/pain points of the system.

There is a need to create a table that brings together Minnesota policymakers/implementors; communities impacted by inequities in education, health, and economic well-being; researchers; and funders. Huda Ahmed focuses on building co-creation tables that incubate cross-sector partnership and alignment around the needs and priorities of impacted communities; provides training in co-creation and power sharing to level-set; then provides strategically facilitated conversations to reach table members’ alignment of funding priorities, research agendas, and policy goals around the priorities of impacted communities.

STRATEGIC INITIATIVE: Minnesota Cross-sector (Community & Policymakers) Partnership for Aligning Funding Priorities
Efforts across Minnesota seek to address inequities in education, health, and economic wellbeing. However, much of these efforts are siloed within organizations and lack the collaboration and coordination across the different points of the system for better impact. Additionally, communities are often not engaged in decision-making. My strategic initiative is to create a table that convenes Minnesota policymakers/implementers; communities impacted by inequities in education, health, and economic wellbeing; researchers; and funders. This table will incubate cross-sector partnership and alignment around the needs and priorities of impacted communities. Training in co-creation and power sharing will level-set the incubation environment, and a series of strategically facilitated conversations will help table members align funding priorities, research agendas, and policy goals around the priorities of impacted communities. VRJ, a statewide organizing nonprofit, is interested in being a community partner.

MORE ABOUT HUDA
Huda Ahmed is a mother and public health practitioner. She’s spent the last 18 years working in local public health government, academia, and in the private sector, with communities always at the center, to transform ecosystems and put in place processes that support the ability of individuals and communities to grow in their safety, health, and wellness. Her specialty is building and facilitating the process of community-institution power sharing to co-create and put in place sustainable, equitable, community-led solutions. She’s applied this specialty to issues ranging from the census to urban planning, cancer research and screenings to climate change, to impact the lives of thousands of Minnesotans and those beyond.

Huda is the founder and principal at Transformational Solutions, a strategy consultant firm that supports local and national clients in the public, nonprofit, and philanthropic sectors to achieve transformational change by providing comprehensive strategic support.