Fatoun Ali (Somali Youth & Development Center)

Fatoun Ali is the founder of the Somali Youth & Development Center in St. Paul. 

From Somalia, a country in east Africa that is home to over 18 million people, Fatoun’s upbringing was a stark contrast to those many in the West experience. 

From a young age, Fatoun was responsible for the well-being of her siblings.

Access to education was also limited, and opportunities for economic advancement were rare, at best.

Then, in 1991, civil war ravaged Somalia, forcing Fatoun to flee the country and land at a refugee camp, where she stayed until 1998, when she immigrated to San Diego.

At first glance, arriving in southern California was a welcome reprieve from the tragedy and despair from back home.

It also helped that San Diego and Somalia share similar climates.  

“In San Diego, the weather was absolutely beautiful, just like in Somalia,” Fatoun recalls from her St. Paul office, and while rampant human suffering no longer surrounded Fatoun in San Diego, new obstacles awaited.  

“Obviously the language and culture was different, so that was an adjustment,” she says.

That, and when Fatoun touched down in San Diego, she was eight months pregnant with her second child. 

“A month later, I gave birth to my daughter, but four months after that, she died,” Fatoun says.

Altogether, that was the second child Fatoun had lost, a harrowing experience that was exacerbated by the fact that her interpreters left something to be desired. 

“I felt like justice was not being done for me,” Fatoun says. 

“The interpreters were not communicating what I wanted them to.”

Following the passing of her newborn, Fatoun felt isolated, lost in a world much different than what she was ordinarily accustomed to. 

“I was voiceless, lonely, scared, and overwhelmed,” she says. 

“And I didn’t want anyone else to feel the way that I was feeling.” 

Unwilling to stand idle, Fatoun started to learn English, and she educated herself, albeit unconventionally. 

“I listened to a lot of Tony Robbins [public speaker]. I watched The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful [soap operas], and other talk shows to refine my English,” Fatoun mentions. 

Soon, she was able to proficiently read and write in English, to the point that within a few months she secured a job working as a translator for other immigrant families from Somalia. 

“My ESL [English as a Second Language] teacher saw something in me that I couldn’t even see in myself,” she admits, and suddenly Fatoun saw a chance to make a profound impact on her community. 

But just as soon as purpose entered her purview, she became a victim of domestic abuse and opted to leave the tropical climate of San Diego, divorcing her husband and ending up in Minnesota, of all places.  

With all the personal and external turmoil Fatoun has endured, many would understand if she wanted to shield herself from the harsh realities of life, but instead, Fatoun maintained a strong desire to help people. 

“Life is hard, and it always will present new challenges,” Fatoun insists. 

“Despite taking on a lot of responsibility as a young child, enduring our country’s civil war, then fleeing to a refugee camp and coming to America, there has always existed a drive inside me for something greater.” 

That’s why sixteen years ago, she founded the Somali Youth & Development Center.

“Even after my divorce, I still had to overcome adversity, and work hard to make sure the house is clean and that my kids are fed,” she says. 

“I realize though that there are a lot of other people out there going through similar things, and they need help.”

In many ways, Fatoun’s organization was doing extremely commendable work, helping disenfranchised Somalis find their way once they arrived in the United States. 

At the same time, Fatoun was taxed, routinely working fourteen hours of every single day of the week. 

“The community desperately needed, and still needs my help,” she says. 

“That’s what kept me going.”

But Fatoun also recognized that limited resources would eventually deplete her energy level, so she enlisted the help of local small businesses, a pursuit that was far from easy. 

“Here in the Twin Cities, there are a lot of people who don’t look like me, they don’t dress like me, and they are not Muslim, but I still had to get out there, leave my comfort zone, and get in front of people in order to fund my dream,” she explains. 

Many BNI networking events and 1-1 conversations later, Fatoun found herself in front of a grant writer who wanted to assist in her nonprofit’s endeavor.  

“I didn’t have money to pay her, but she believed in what I was doing and helped me ultimately get funding, and that’s led to where the organization is today,” says Fatoun, who now has a team of grant writers constantly helping her obtain more funding. 

“I’ve been lucky to be able to continue to do the work that I love and enjoy. I can’t get enough of it, and I am so grateful we have gotten to the stage where we are now.”

In the coming years, Fatoun wants to expand her operations. 

“My dream is to have a facility like the YMCA, where all Somalis, from teenagers, to single mothers, to entrepreneurs, can come and feel at home,” she says.

“Right now it’s still a dream, but I’m envisioning a place where the entire community can come together to talk about our history, but also move forward, because there’s still so much that we as Somalis can do to enrich not only our community, but society as a whole.” QS

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