People

Yas Ahmed

Yas(min) Ahmed has been working with young people since she herself was sixteen. That vocation has taken her to the worlds of institutional philanthropy, community organizing, health education and policy advocacy; she has served as a trainer, convener and program manager within those capacities. At present, she is engaged in workforce development efforts among youth workers in the Bay Area, as well as continuing her advocacy work by training to become a tenants’ rights counselor. Having attended Antioch College as an undergraduate student, Yas intends to study public interest law in the near future.

Ongoing passions include: gender justice, intersectional politics, the written word and culinary experiences that make your tastebuds dance…ok, she just really enjoys eating. Additional life-giving activities include: organizing within queer/trans and Arab communities; go-go dancing; creating and absorbing as much poetry as is meaningful. 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 among young, feminist leaders.

Ever thankful for families of choice and origin, Yas sees her work with movement-building organizations, such as Third Wave Foundation, as critical to our collective and individual well-being. As it goes: if not us, then who?”