Members
Samiya Abdi is a Senior Programme Specialist at Public Health Ontario and a PhD student in the field of Health Professional Education at Western University.
Samiya is passionate about making public health systems more equitable, challenging intersecting forms of oppression, and understanding marginalisation in knowledge production, research, and practice.
She holds a Master’s degree in Public Health from the University of Waterloo, as well as a Graduate Diploma in social innovation and systems thinking. Samiya has extensive experience in community engagement work and, has co-founded international movements such as the Somali Gender Equity Movement and Famine Resisters, alongside local initiatives such as Aspire2Lead and the Toronto Muslim Youth Political fellowship.
Throughout her career, Samiya has managed multi-million-dollar projects within the corporate sector as well as government-led health initiatives nationally and locally. Samiya is the winner of The Lori Chow Award for exceptional leadership, the winner of Woman of the Year Award, by the Federation of Muslim Women, and the MAX Woman of the Year Award.
Samiya is also a School of Social Entrepreneurs graduate, a Global Fellow with the League of Entrepreneurs and a BMW Responsible Leader.