Deka Ali

Community Organizer & leader

Biography

Deka Ali lives in the northwestern town of East Grand Forks Minnesota. As a Somali immigrant, interpreter and community organizer, she has gained the respect of her rural community for bringing people together. In 2025 Deka is working with In Progress to identify and guide families through an intergenerational storytelling project focused on sharing stories of immigration, cultural identity and place.

Qualifications

Deka Ali has been working with school and community groups for more than 15 years. She currently serves as a cultural navigator for the East Grand Fork Family Resource Center, working with families in need to identify and secure resources that provide greater security with basic living needs. In this role she coordinates with schools, local business and an array of social service networks operating in her region. Deka also provides interpretive services to families when needed.

SKILLS

  • highly efficient organizational skills

  • strong communication skills

  • multi-lingual

  • culturally connected

  • well respected

  • strong communications skills

  • follow through

Teaching / COORDINATING EXPERIENCE

  • workshop coordination & facilitation for In Progress’s Portraiture Event

  • workshop coordination & facilitation for In Progress’s Waterers Program

  • cultural liaison - East Grand Forks Family Resource Center

LINKS