Hamda Ahmed, BS

Discipline: Community/Public Health

About: Hamda Ahmed has lived in Lewiston, Maine since 2013. She graduated from the University of Southern Maine in 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Political Science and a minor in Leadership and Organizational Studies. In 2015, Hamda interned with Maine People’s Alliance, (MPA) the largest action group in the state of Maine. During this time, she also worked as an office assistant at New Mainers Public Health Initiative (NMPHI) while finishing her studies. Hamda immediately demonstrated a lot of potential, particularly with anything related to servicing the community. She is an assertive and pragmatic young leader with a compassionate, diversified skill set in community organizing, activism, and civic engagement. She spent the better part of her internship in MPA working hard on her leadership development, stepping out of her comfort zone, and leading community outreach projects and participating in campaigns, including Minimum Wage Medicaid Expansion, Paid Sick Leave, and Mainecare for all. Hamda’s consistency and self-discipline made her acquire the full trust of the NMPHI leadership and now she holds the position of Program Manager. The NMPHI program includes a youth leadership program, Covid-19 testing, community health workers supervision and more. Hamda’s passion to help others has steadily made her a person to lean on for people who know her. She played a major role in founding the Covid-19 rapid response coalition called Lewiston/Auburn Emergency Task Force and applied her leadership and interpersonal skills to support the coalition to respond to emerging needs.