At the age of nine, Ghida Dagher and her family fled civil war in Sierra Leone and sought asylum in the United States. “Having moved here as a refugee and growing up in communities of low income is real life experience that I take with me,” she told the Arab American News in 2019. “It shapes the trajectory of my career. I often say that it’s my immigrant experience that grounds me, but it’s my American experience that propels me.” From an early age, Dagher was active in her community, but it wasn’t until college that she realized her heart lay in public service work. In her early career, Dagher led multiple political campaigns, launched policy initiatives at nonprofits, and ultimately served as director of appointments for Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer.
Declining to run for public office herself, Dagher instead became involved in New American Leaders, a nonpartisan organization dedicated to building a more inclusive democracy by training first- and second-generation Americans to run for public office. Today, she is the CEO and president of the organization. As she explains, “Too often, new Americans see that their communities are being left out of key conversations and are hurt by policy decisions made by elected leaders who do not share their experiences or values. Just like any other American, they get tired of having their needs and priorities ignored by the people they elected to represent them. While some turn to organizing their communities or working with local issue-based organizations, others decide to run for office themselves to create the change they want to see.” These new, empowered voices and volunteers have had a resounding impact on civic participation and governance at the local, state, and national level, from school boards to the halls of Congress. “As a refugee and as an immigrant,” says Dagher, “there’s a sense of responsibility … to carry forward this message of inclusiveness, this message of hopefulness, this message of unity. Ultimately all of the things that are American in my eyes.”
Twitter: @ghidadagher
