Hawa Mohamud is the State Program Associate for the California Justice Leaders – AmeriCorps project, which provides employment and leadership opportunities to young people with prior involvement in the justice system while increasing awareness of and access to California’s Honorable Discharge petition process.
Prior to joining Impact Justice, Hawa spent the last 8 years working with City Year, a national education focused nonprofit dedicated to helping students and schools in high need communities. During her time there, Hawa held various roles, including serving as a Program Manager where she managed and coached teams of AmeriCorps Members serving at an elementary school in the Watts community. Through this role, Hawa gained extensive experience as a facilitator and coach as well as deepened her passion for creating equitable opportunities. Most recently, Hawa served in the Recruitment and Admissions department, working closely with sites to prepare incoming AmeriCorps Members for service, as well as implementing checks to ensure that all processes eliminated bias. Hawa also spent time as a Team Leader with Changeist (formerly BigCitizen Hub), a Saturday program that brought together 11-26 year olds to go through a 6 month civic action experience on diverse teams. As a Team Leader, Hawa supported participants in learning a common civic language that would later allow them to investigate local and global social justice issues.
Hawa holds a BA in Elementary Education from St. Catherine University. Her passion for empowering youth, advocacy, and dismantling systems of oppression brought her to Impact Justice.