New Bush Foundation Fellows include amputee, journalist, architect, more

Mohamed Ahmed had just dropped his youngest daughter at a project at the Hosmer Library in Minneapolis in when a car began speeding toward him on the sidewalk Ahmed jumped between two parked cars to avoid getting hit but the driver smashed into the back of the rear parked car The force crushed Ahmed s left leg Mohamed Ahmed Caroline Yang Bush Foundation I don t know if they were texting or had been drinking alcohol or whatever but somehow they ended up on the sidewalk revealed Ahmed who lives in St Paul I got my right leg out but not my left Ahmed who emigrated from Somalia to the U S when he was had his left leg amputated above the knee and now uses a high-tech computerized knee called a c-leg Since his amputation Ahmed has worked to ensure equitable access to prosthetic care for underserved communities both in Minnesota and globally He is a volunteer with the Protez Foundation an Oakdale-based organization that provides free prosthetics for people who have lost limbs especially as a outcome of wars in underserved areas of the world and Wiggle Your Toes an organization dedicated to helping sufferers and families of casualties who have experienced limb loss Ahmed is one of new fellows chosen by the Bush Foundation for their work in Minnesota North Dakota South Dakota and the Native nations that share the same geography Each fellow will receive up to to fund -to- months of scrutiny and reflection often in other states or countries with the goal of making them better leaders Ahmed plans to use his award to complete a master s of science degree in orthotics and prosthetics from Concordia University in St Paul strengthen his procedures and advocacy skills and expand his impact on disability justice and healthcare access He particularly wants to help people in Somalia and Yemen he stated Here if you lose your leg you can go to a clinic and get a prosthetic he mentioned In third-world countries if you lose your leg you lose everything You lose your livelihood you lose your transportation Everything is out of the window I ll be working to help those people remain independent to be able to endorsement their family get kids back to school adults back to work and to promotion their society So it s a win-win situation for everybody In total seven of this year s Bush Fellows live or work in St Paul or the east metro The Bush Foundation based in downtown St Paul chose them from among applicants Here s more about them Georgia Fort Georgia Fort Caroline Yang Bush Foundation Georgia Fort a three-time Midwest Emmy Award-winning journalist from St Paul is working to reshape the media landscape to center locality and representation Less than percent of journalists in the state of Minnesota are Black she commented I think it s really major that our newsrooms reflect the diversity of the communities they serve and that s what I aim to accomplish Fort who grew up on St Paul s East Side is the founder of BLCK Press and the Center for Broadcast Journalism in St Paul She left mainstream media eight years ago to build platforms that elevate underreported stories and develop the next generation of Black and brown journalists she noted Fort plans to use her fellowship to pursue a certificate in leadership at Harvard University and develop a personal wellness plan that will allow her to continue building a journalism ecosystem that affirms society develops talent and ensures that all voices are seen and heard Two years ago Fort launched a weekly half-hour TV show Here s The Truth with Georgia Fort on The CW Twin Cities We had a shoestring budget and we made it happen but the reality is the transformation that we want to see on that side of our work is going to require more than just a -minute time slot once a week Fort reported Journalism is a pillar of democracy and in order for this region and this nation to move forward we need more than just a -minute show We need a structure And so how do we build that I m excited to have the next two years to really have the time and space to become the leader that will be required to bring forth that vision James Garrett Jr James Garrett Jr Caroline Yang Bush Foundation James Garrett Jr of St Paul believes architecture should be used as a tool for equity cultural expression and neighborhood transformation Countless of the projects designed by his firm RM ULA reflect the aspirations of underserved communities from North Minneapolis to the Rondo neighborhood of St Paul For example the Rondo Commemorative Plaza in St Paul which his firm designed commemorates the neighborhood that was there before Interstate was built he announced It includes a -foot illuminated sign that is wrapped in art and says Rondo and it kind of suggests that space It says Hey we re still here The society was devastated but we re still here We re really interested in population and understanding how best we can reflect the district values and identity and create an artwork that expresses those things gives people that sense of pride and that sense of belonging and ownership to connections of place noted Garrett whose great-grandmother is assumed to be the first Black person to purchase a home in Rondo A lot of times that s missing in our underserved neighborhoods or lower-income communities People don t get to build new buildings they just sort of inhabit the buildings that are left over from prior eras Going into area and really pushing to be able to create spaces and places that literally speak to who people are and what they aspire to be in new and creative approaches that s really our motivation Garrett reported he plans to use his fellowship to deepen his exploration of sustainable climate-responsive materials and methods of building construction and expand his framework as a thought leader for inclusive design Leya Hale Leya Hale Caroline Yang Bush Foundation Leya Hale is indigenizing filmmaking by rooting the creative process in Indigenous language kinship and worldview Bush authorities revealed Hale a citizen of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate and Dine Nations is a multiple regional Emmy Award-winning documentary producer for Twin Cities PBS She has earned national acclaim for films like Bring Her Home and The People s Protectors which uplift Indigenous stories and resilience Hale plans to use her fellowship to strengthen her Dakota language skills expand her technical and narrative filmmaking skills and build a global organization of Indigenous creatives reshaping the future of media Hale lives in West St Paul Carl Johnson Carl Johnson Caroline Yang Bush Foundation Pastor Carl Johnson is transforming food access and economic opportunity on St Paul s East Side through faith-rooted leadership and region ownership Johnson of St Paul founded the neighborhood s first Black-owned micro grocery store and the George Washington Carver Cultural Center for Innovation a hub for youth mentorship and cooperative business growth The concept has been so fruitful that Johnson is working on starting other micro grocery stores across the Twin Cities including the North End and downtown St Paul The stores called Storehouse Grocers and Coffee Co-op include a coffee shop Johnson plans to use his fellowship to complete his degree in entrepreneurship pursue certification in cultural intelligence and deepen his spiritual and cultural leadership through ancestral pilgrimage and learning Swahili I plan to start in Kenya in East Africa where I have certain DNA representation he noted Then I will be going to Rwanda to see what we call a fully sustainable civilization They take one day out of the month and the whole country cleans up the habitat I just thought Man what would it look like to see someplace where everybody cleans up Marvis Kilgore Marvis Kilgore Caroline Yang Bush Foundation Marvis Kilgore has an ambitious goal Close the equity gap in guidance by increasing the presence and power of Black male educators Studies show that if Black male students have a Black male mentor before fifth grade they re more likely to graduate from high school and attend college according to Kilgore How they think about themselves changes because they have someone in close proximity to them who can understand lived experience and take that lived experience and connect it in the classroom to create something more magical he stated Kilgore is executive director of Code Savvy a Minneapolis-based nonprofit offering computer science training programs to students and school districts focused on traditionally underserved learner communities He previously served as campaign director for Sirtify a Normandale Region College venture dedicated to recruiting Black men in K- teaching He noted he plans to use his fellowship to expand his leadership in educational equity strengthen his program expertise and explore how innovation and instrument can drive systemic transformation in tutor preparation and retention he reported My plan is to really get out in the state of Minnesota to understand the reason why there is this huge equity gap in teaching reported Kilgore who lives on St Paul s East Side I know what the numbers say but I want to hear from Black men across the state of Minnesota to understand their why Details is great but it doesn t come with voice I need to understand the voice of the people to be able to affect change in a more meaningful way and be a more effective voice of change and advocacy Maychee Mua Maychee Mua Caroline Yang Bush Foundation As a first-generation Hmong-Chinese-American and a parent of neurodivergent children Maychee Mua helped establish Minnesota s first autism Medicaid initiative for children under and the state s first cultural competency training for autism providers Her advocacy expertise extends to housing behavioral soundness and advocating for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing Mua of Cottage Grove is reimagining autism advocacy through a culturally attuned and healing-centered lens Bush executives declared Her work dismantles blockades with empathy cultural fluency and deep systems knowledge Mua the co-author of the Hmong children s book I Am a Hmong-American Child plans to use her fellowship to reconnect with her cultural roots design holistic healing frameworks and develop materials that bridge Southeast Asian traditions with Western systems of care Related Articles With federal cuts Hubert H Humphrey Job Corps to close after years Two artists awarded K as McKnight Book Artist Fellows An absolute privilege Darts President Ann Bailey offers advice reflects on years in Dakota County aging services St Paul family nonprofit seeks to break the stigma of addiction in the Hmong society Ellison drops objection to appointment of Otto Bremer Trust trustee s daughter