Najma Darwish

Public health graduate with experience in community health assessment, qualitative research, health education, and community organizing with immigrant and underserved communities. Skilled at building partnerships with clinicians, social workers, and community organizations, and at translating community voice into actionable recommendations. English- and Somali-speaking, committed to culturally responsive, equity-centered health education.

Member, Health Equity Committee, Young Women's Cabinet - Women's Foundation of Minnesota

(2025-08)

Appointed by the Office of the Governor and Lt. Governor to a statewide cabinet of young leaders that trains as policy advocates and develops an annual policy agenda.

• Advocate for health equity legislation, including HF 2556 (an endometriosis data and biorepository program at the University of Minnesota).
• Engage in community organizing with cabinet members from across Minnesota to advance the cabinet's policy priorities.

Population Health Intern - Hennepin Healthcare - Minneapolis, MN

(2026-01 - 2026-05)

Worked within an interdisciplinary hospital team of social workers, physicians, nurse practitioners, and other staff to connect high-needs patients with community services.

• Built and maintained a community resource database of services such as housing, food, benefits and referral pathways used by clinical teams.
• Coordinated food insecurity initiatives: prepared program documents, communicated with stakeholders, and distributed food supplies to clinical areas.

Peer Health Educator - Saint Catherine University - Saint Paul, MN

(2025-05 - 2026-06)

• Led health education information sessions for students on mental health and alcohol and drug use, reaching more than 300 students.
• Prepared educational materials to support health promotion workshops and events.
• Conducted passive programming through regular tabling and a mobile health promotion cart to reach students in high-traffic areas of campus.

Qualitative Researcher, Our Streets Cedar-Riverside Photovoice Project - Saint Catherine University - Saint Paul, MN

(2024-08 - 2025-05)

Conducted qualitative analysis for a Photovoice community-based research project with Our Streets MPLS, assessing how I-94 affects the health and well-being of residents and business owners in Cedar-Riverside.

• Coded and analyzed focus group data in NVivo, identifying themes of disinvestment, accessibility, safety, and exclusion from decision-making.
• Contributed to community-informed recommendations for MnDOT on transparent, equitable engagement of affected communities.

Bachelor of Science in Public Health - Health Sciences Concentration - Saint Catherine University