Standing With Our Somali Neighbors: A Night of Inspiration and Action

A joint program presented by

Healthcare for All Washington (HCFA-WA) — a Washington State advocacy organization working toward universal healthcare, whose president Ronnie Shore hosted the event.

Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP), Washington Chapter — represented by coordinator David McClanahan, who co-introduced the program and shared resources with attendees.

The formal program was moderated by -

Amina Ibrahim — Journalist & Public Health Advocate (Moderator)

Amina Ibrahim served as the evening's moderator and helped organize the panel. A graduate of Seattle University, she earned multiple student awards and graduated magna cum laude, and also studied abroad for a year at the University of Ghana. Her journalism career includes experience with Crosscut/PBS, Radioactive Youth Media, KUOW, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations. She has since transitioned into public health advocacy at both local and global levels, and joined the panel from Cairo, Egypt.

The two presenters were -

Dr. Anisa Ibrahim — Pediatrician & Refugee Health Specialist

Dr. Anisa Ibrahim is a Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Medical Director at the University of Washington's Harborview Pediatrics Clinic, where her specialty focuses on refugee and immigrant health. She came to the United States from Somalia at age six in the early 1990s, completing her entire medical training in Seattle. She was one of the founding members of the Somali Health Board, helping shape its earliest work even before it became a formal organization — and was recently noted as the first-ever Black director of the Harborview pediatric clinic. Throughout her career she has served on the Council on Immigrant Child and Family Health and the Society for Refugee Providers, and is known for her conviction that being visible as a Muslim Black woman in medicine is itself a form of advocacy.

Najma Osman, MPH — Public Health Leader & Executive Director

Najma Osman holds a Master of Public Health and serves as Co-Executive Director of the Somali Health Board in King County, Seattle. The daughter of Somali immigrant entrepreneurs, she is a first-generation college graduate whose path to public health began with a single undergraduate course at the University of Washington — and she has been driven by it ever since. Her work centers on health equity, systems change, and community-centered approaches to care, with a particular focus on bridging policy, advocacy, and direct community engagement. Under her leadership, SHB has grown to 21 employees, with the majority hired after 2020 in response to COVID-19 response work.

Standing with our Somali neighbors

The Somali Health Board (SHB) in King County, Seattle, was founded in 2009 by Somali public health professionals — including Dr. Anisa Ibrahim — who recognized significant gaps in how the healthcare system was serving the Somali community. It officially became a 501(c)(3) in 2012, and that three-year gap was intentional: the founders wanted to first build deep trust within the community before becoming a formal institution. Today, SHB has grown to 21 employees (19 full-time), with most of that growth occurring after 2020, driven largely by COVID-19 response work.

Programs and Services

SHB's work spans every stage of life — from maternal health to senior programming — and is built around culturally and linguistically responsive care. Key programs include:

• Care navigation and case management — helping community members navigate complex insurance, referrals, and follow-up care

• Culturally responsive mental health services — including support groups facilitated by Somali-licensed mental health therapists, for both youth and parents

• Health education — covering nutrition, exercise, and chronic disease management

• A Senior Health Promotion Program — meeting elders in Seattle Housing Authority locations in Newquali and Rainier Vista for health education and social connection (recently lost due to federal funding cuts)

• Community advocacy — ensuring Somali voices are present at institutional decision-making tables, even when community members cannot attend themselves

Barriers to Integration

Co-Executive Director Najma Osman, MPH and pediatrician Dr. Anisa Ibrahim of UW Harborview identified several persistent barriers the Somali community faces in accessing and integrating into the U.S. healthcare system:

• Language access gaps beyond simple translation — including deeper deficits in culturally responsive communication

• System complexity — navigating insurance, referrals, and follow-up care is difficult even for English speakers; community members are often left to manage this alone

• Historical mistrust — shaped by prior negative experiences and lack of Somali representation within healthcare institutions

• Fear and safety — since January 2025, the political climate and immigration enforcement have caused many community members, including pregnant women, to delay or avoid care

• Implicit bias — patients report feeling dismissed or disrespected until an SHB advocate accompanies them to appointments, at which point clinical staff notably shift their tone

Advocacy and Policy Work

SHB consistently bridges direct service and systems change, bringing community-informed feedback to policymakers and institutions. The evening's Zoom event — co-hosted by Healthcare for All Washington (HCFA-WA) and Physicians for a National Health Program (PNHP) Washington — was itself a tangible example of that coalition-building. Washington State Representative Cindy Ryu (32nd LD) attended the event and raised questions about using the new Community Reinvestment Act (HB 2523, providing $50M) for future SHB programming.

Funding Challenges

The majority of SHB's funding comes from government contracts, primarily King County, with some support from the Washington State Department of Health. Federal funding cuts have directly impacted two major programs: the Senior Health Promotion Program (lost as of last month) and the mental health program (cut at the end of last year). SHB is currently seeking bridge funding to maintain reduced versions of these services.

What Allies Can Do

Both speakers offered concrete calls to action for those wanting to support the Somali community's integration into healthcare:

• Use personal or professional privilege to amplify — not speak for — community voices
• Support and financially invest in local organizations like SHB
• In clinical settings, slow down, check for understanding, and help coordinate next steps rather than assuming patients can navigate the system alone
• Ensure community members are present as leaders, not just consultants, in spaces where decisions are made about their care
• Visit EthnoMed.org (run by Harborview) for country-specific cultural health profiles

Background on the Somali population in Seattle Area

The Seattle metro area is home to one of the largest Somali communities on the West Coast, with population estimates ranging widely depending on the source and methodology used.

Official Census Figures vs. Community Estimates

Official counts significantly undercount the true Somali population. The 2020 U.S. Census recorded over 16,000 residents of Somali descent in Washington State, with the majority living in Seattle and South King County. The 2023 U.S. Census data puts the figure at roughly 14,202 Washington residents of Somali ancestry. However, community organizations and local media outlets consistently cite estimates of up to 30,000 Somali immigrants and descendants in the broader Seattle area.

This gap exists for well-documented reasons — many Somalis have historically avoided census participation out of distrust of government, and immigration statistics don't track those who first settled in other U.S. states and then moved to Washington.

Where They Live

The Somali community is concentrated in a cluster of South King County neighborhoods and cities:

• SeaTac — the largest concentration and considered the community hub
• Tukwila — a major secondary hub
• South Seattle neighborhoods: Rainier Valley, Yesler Terrace, Rainier Vista, New Holly, and High Point
• White Center, Federal Way, and Renton — growing communities further south
• Smaller communities extend as far north as Lynnwood and Everett

Washington's Role Nationally

Washington State ranks alongside Minnesota (Twin Cities ~80,000) and Ohio (Columbus ~45,000) as one of the top three Somali settlement states in the U.S. The Seattle-area community has been present since the 1970s as students and engineers, but grew dramatically after Somalia's civil war began in 1991. Nearly 30,000 East African refugees (including Somalis and others) have made King County their home overall.