Lewiston Auburn

Safiya Khalid

Founder and Executive Director of Community Organizing Alliance

Safiya is a former elected politician who created history when she was elected to the Lewiston City Council as the first Somali-American and youngest person in 2019. She is a graduate of Lewiston Public Schools and the University of Southern Maine, with a Psychology major and minor in Business Administration. Safiya served on many state, municipal and non-profit boards and committees. She is currently working on a Masters of Public Administration at Northeastern University. She is an avid advocate of social justice, community organizing, and youth leadership. She envisions a world that is just, fair and equitable. With COA, she intends to accomplish these goals by creating and supporting a community that is united and organized to support issues that are important to our daily lives.

Fatuma Hussein

Executive Director of Immigrant Resource Center Of Maine

Fatuma Hussein is the founder and Executive Director of Immigrant Resource Center of Maine, formerly known as the United Somali Women of Maine. She came to this country as a refugee teenager, attended school in the U.S, and began to work as a community advocate, using all the lessons she had learned in overcoming the challenges of being a refugee teenager in a different culture. Fatuma chairs New Mainers Community Collaborative and is a founding member of City SPIRIT. She holds governor appointed seats: Maine Commission on domestic & sexual abuse, and the Maine Permanent Commission on the status of Women. Based on her work, Fatuma received an Honorary Degree from Bowdoin College in 2017.

Mohamed Awil

Founder of Community Staffing Partners

Born in Kenya, Mohamed Awil relocated to Lewiston and like many others who share a similar history of immigration, moving to Maine gave him the chance to start over. As a New Mainer who has grown up in two different parts of the world, Mohamed seeks to share his experiences with others while also learning from them. He believes in the power of diversity, but more importantly, in the power of inclusion, as this is the state of being valued, respected and supported. For the past five years Mohamed has worked in the healthcare field, holding roles in management and human resources while acting as a cultural broker. As a result of that, Community Staffing Partners was born to do that work at a larger scale where he serves as co-founder and operation manager. Away from work, Mohamed mentors and coaches young local athletes. "Go Devils!”

Nate Libby

President, Community Concepts Finance Corp. President, Community Concepts, Inc. Housing Development

Libby grew up in a working-class family in Central Maine. He was fortunate to receive substantial needs- based scholarship to attend Bates College, where earned a degree in history and economics. He fell in love with Lewiston and made it his home after graduating. Public Service Libby served in the Maine Senate from 2014 to 2022 and was twice elected unanimously by his peers to serve as Senate Majority Leader. He served in leadership positions on the Government Oversight Committee, Taxation Committee, and State and Local Government Committee, and co-founded the Task Force on Maine’s 21st Century Economy and Workforce. Libby served five terms in Maine’s citizen legislature and two terms on the Lewiston City Council. Community Leadership In Lewiston, Libby served as chair of the universally accessible playground committee. Under his leadership, they established Maine’s first public universally accessible playground, where children and adults of all physical ability levels can play together. The playground, Jude’s Place at Marcotte Park, opened in 2018. He has served on the boards of Androscoggin Head Start, the Lewiston-Auburn Economic Growth Council, Tri-County Mental Health Services, and Western Maine Community Action, Inc. He is a past advisor to the Lewiston Youth Advisory Council and past member of Lewiston’s CDBG committee. Education, Profession, & Family Libby earned a bachelor’s degree in history and economics from Bates College in 2007. He earned his Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the University of Southern Maine’s School of Business in 2020 over a three-year period of night classes. Concurrent to his service in Maine’s part-time Legislature, Libby worked for ten years as a consultant to nonprofit and local government clients. Since 2020, Nate has worked on the leadership team at Community Concepts, Inc., overseeing the agency’s social impact lending, financial counseling, economic development, emergency shelters, and affordable housing programs. He lives in Lewiston and has two sons, Jude and Charlie.

Abdikadir Negeye

Human Resource Director/Co-founder/Community Organizer Maine Immigrant & Refugee Services (MEIRS)

Born in Somalia, Abdikadir lived in two different refugee camps for roughly fourteen years before he and his family were relocated to Atlanta, Georgia. Like many others who have endured the violence and hardships of both his home country and the refugee camps, he loves living in L/A because it is a safe community with a “small town” atmosphere where he feels comfortable raising a family. He is amazed by the accessibility of the teachers, government leaders, and the like. He is a huge fan of the annual L/A festival and frequently enjoys meals with his family at local restaurants.

Shanna Cox

President and CEO of the Lewiston Auburn Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce Consultant/Owner & Community Organizer PROJECT TIPPING POINT

Shanna has dedicated her time to bringing communities, groups, and leadership together to strengthen Lewiston-Auburn. Through collaboration, community engagement, and the creation of TIP LA, an 18 month leadership development course, Shanna continues to be a part of shaping our community's future. She takes the lead on many community boards such as Grow LA and Healthy Neighborhoods, and is consultant to many groups, businesses, and entrepreneurs throughout the LA area and beyond.

Darby Ray

Faculty Member and Director of Harward Center at Bates College

Darby has spent most of her life as an educator of (and with) youth and believes wholeheartedly that if young people are given opportunity and support, they have the imagination and courage to create the just and sustainable world that previous generations have failed to achieve. Darby brings deep collaborative instincts, a commitment to equity and social justice, grant writing experience, and access to varied forms of expertise, including assessment. She also serves on the executive committees of Healthy Neighborhoods and L/A Arts, among other affiliations.