Abdi Warsame

Abdi Warsame became MPHA’s Executive Director/CEO in March 2020. Prior to joining MPHA, he had been a member of the Minneapolis City Council, representing the 6th Ward since 2014.

Mr. Warsame was born in Somalia and grew up in the United Kingdom of Great Britain, where he studied and attained a BSc in Business and a Master’s Degree in International Business. He moved to Minneapolis in 2006, shortly landing a job in the financial sector.

Mr. Warsame was elected to the Minneapolis City Council in November 2013, becoming the first Somali-American elected to the council and the first in the nation to win a municipal election. Mr. Warsame previously served as the Board Chair of the Cedar Riverside-Neighborhood Revitalization Program (CR-NRP) and Executive Director of the Riverside Plaza Tenants Association (RPTA). He was the founder and spokesperson for the Citizen’s Committee for Fair Redistricting, which took part in the redistricting process that aimed to create a more equitable and representative political map of Minneapolis, with the intent to create better opportunities for all residents of the City.

Abdi Warsame is a Somali-American and a practicing Muslim. He lives with his family in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis.