New Assistant Commissioner for Immigrant and Refugee Affairs

St. Paul – The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has named Anisa Hajimumin as Assistant Commissioner of Immigrant and Refugee Affairs. This new leadership role will serve as the State's primary specialist on immigrant and refugee affairs and focus on the impact of immigration on Minnesota’s economy. 

”Now more than ever, we need to focus on eliminating economic disparities and historic injustices for people of color.” said Governor Tim Walz. “Anisa’s experiences and strong ties to community will help the state find new ways to collaborate with immigrants and refugees, who play a vital role in our economy and our culture from Warroad to Winona and everywhere in between.”

“Our state’s immigrants and refugees enrich our communities -- and it’s time we elevate and better support their contributions to our economy.”,” said DEED Commissioner Steve Grove. “Anisa will help the State live out our mission to empower the growth of the Minnesota economy, for everyone.”

One of Hajimumin’s top priorities will be to examine state systems and policies that may be slowing down or preventing immigrants and refugees from finding work or starting their own business. The Governor’s Office and DEED collaborated on a grant that supports this position, which reports to DEED Deputy Commissioner Hamse Warfa.

Hajimumin comes to the position with experience as an entrepreneur, business executive and government leader. After founding and leading two businesses focused on providing technical and strategic support to entrepreneurs from communities of color and immigrants and refugees, Hajimumin returned to Somalia from 2014-2017, where she served as the Minister of Women, Development and Family Affairs in the Puntland region. During her ministerial service, she established a social protection framework for women and children, directed a program to prevent human trafficking, raised and distributed funds for displaced families, increased women’s political participation, oversaw the building of a center to serve people with disabilities, and drafted and facilitated passage of a bill (the first ever in Somalia) to prosecute sexual offenders. Under her leadership, Somalia was the first African country to sign on to the campaign to end Female Genital Mutilation. She has extensive experience collaborating with local, state, national and international agencies and government entities to move policies forward.

Hajimumin, immigrated to Minnesota in 1996 and holds a Master of Public Administration from Hamline University in St. Paul and a Bachelor of Arts in Gender Studies with a minor in creative writing from Metropolitan State University in Saint Paul.