Anisa Hagi-Mohamed, MA

Anisa Hagi-Mohamed is a linguist, poet, author, and community leader whose journey spans Somalia, Kenya, California, and Minnesota. She holds both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Applied Linguistics and has had a teaching career that spans every age group, from kindergarten classrooms to Adult Basic Education programs and international students at St. Cloud State University.

Anisa is a 2025–2027 Bush Fellow, a current University of Minnesota LEND Fellow, and a Partners in Policymaking Fellow, where she continues to deepen her work at the intersection of disability advocacy, leadership, and systems change.

She is the co-founder and Board Chair of Maangaar Voices, a community-led initiative that centers culturally grounded advocacy, storytelling, and support for families navigating autism and developmental disabilities. Her work has also been featured in the documentary Maangaar by Haybad Media, highlighting the experiences of Somali families raising neurodivergent children and the power of community-led solutions.

Anisa is also a TEDx speaker. In her talk “Changing Words to Transform Lives,” she explores the transformational power of language through the lens of a linguist, educator, parent, and community advocate. Drawing from her journey as a Somali-American who arrived in the United States after spending part of her childhood in a refugee camp, she reflects on how language shapes identity, belonging, and healing within immigrant and refugee communities.

Through her creative company Anisa Hagi LLC, Anisa creates bilingual tools and literature that celebrate identity, language, and belonging within the diaspora. Her work includes Kalsooni Affirmation Cards, the first Somali–English affirmation card deck designed to nurture confidence and self-belief, and My Diasporic Diary, a reflective journal created for diaspora members around the world to explore identity, memory, migration, and personal growth.

She is also the author of Waan Isku Kalsoonahay (I Believe in Myself), a children’s picture book featuring a nonverbal five-year-old girl named Bilan, inspired by her own daughter. The book celebrates confidence, self-expression, and the beauty of neurodiversity while offering young readers a powerful message about believing in themselves and embracing who they are.

Anisa’s writing and advocacy are deeply rooted in lived experience as a mother of three neurodivergent children. Her work has been featured by PBS NewsHour, Minnesota Public Radio, Minnesota Women’s Press, and the Star Tribune, and she has received recognition from organizations such as the B.R.A.V.E Foundation and Initiative Foundation.

Across her writing, teaching, public speaking, and organizing, Anisa champions neurodiversity, intergenerational dialogue, and the preservation of cultural identity. Through storytelling and affirmation, she invites young people and families across the diaspora to embrace their voices, honor their heritage, and believe in the strength of their stories.