Amina Sheik Mohammed

A passionate leader, Amina Sheik Mohamed confronts the entrenched barriers to health equity faced by refugee and immigrant communities, striving tirelessly to uplift the voices, perspectives, and needs of these populations. Through her transformational leadership at the UC San Diego Center for Community Health ACTRI, Sheik Mohamed founded the Refugee Health Unit (RHU) and later collaboratively developed the San Diego Refugee Communities Coalition (SDRCC). These collectives are being replicated throughout the state and share a foundational vision that Sheik Mohamed has initiated: the recognition that those impacted by health inequities must have a leading role in deciding how to address their needs. This ethos is key to Sheik Mohamed’s success as she promotes approaches that amplify community voices and ethnic community-based organizations to lead with solutions.

Sheik Mohamed’s work, which incorporates initiatives ranging from peer-based workforces to community advocacy to systemic policy changes, elevates health outcomes and fosters a sense of belonging by ensuring that systems are responsive to and reflective of the communities they serve. Currently, Sheik Mohamed is co-leading a statewide program of nearly $13 million in federal funds from the Office of Refugee Resettlement (ORR), through California Department of Social Services (CDSS).

Sheik Mohamed is the proud recipient of many awards including 2024 The James Irvine Foundation Leadership Awards, 2024 Prebys Foundation’s inaugural Leaders in Belonging, and 2022 San Diego Women of Distinction. Sheik Mohamed holds a Masters of Public Health from Walden University and a Bachelor’s of Science in Health Science from San Diego State University.

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