Yas Ahmed

Yas(min) Ahmed is a Yemeni-Lebanese queer who has been working with young people since she was sixteen. The fact is, she’s pretty sure she’ll still be doing it when she’s sixty.

That work has taken her to the worlds of social justice philanthropy, community organizing, health advocacy, and recently, local policy work. Yas is an alumnus of Antioch College, where she focused her studies on sociology and gender studies. In addition to her work with Third Wave Foundation, Yas sits on the steering committee for the Bay Area Youth Development Peer Network; she also provides training and technical assistance to young women’s philanthropic initiatives around the country. When she’s not causing a ruckus, chances are she’s holed up somewhere writing, playing records or catching an episode of “Nip/Tuck.”

Extra shiny: in 2006, she was selected as one of the real hot 100, a national contest flipping the script on what “hotness” really means.