Luther presents guest lecturer Kadra Abdi on March 6

Luther College alumna Kadra Abdi, class of 2008, is a strategic consultant who spends her days helping minority businesses and nonprofits craft strategies and counteract the often-negative assumptions that arise between immigrant and mainstream communities. At 4 p.m. on March 6, she will speak at the Hammarskjold Lounge in the Dahl Centennial Union on the Luther campus.

This event is open to the public with no charge for admission.

Abdi’s lecture will focus on her experiences working with local and international NGOs and ultimately starting her company, Synergy Consulting, a research, community engagement and strategy consulting business. This lecture is an opportunity for students to learn how to lead fulfilling lives while following their passions.

A Somali native, Abdi moved with her family from a Kenyan refugee camp to Cedar Rapids, Iowa in 1996. Today, she acts as an active force in civil society, holding a graduate degree and owning two businesses, Iskaashi and Synergy Consulting Group. Despite all of her achievements, Abdi admits that she still faces many microaggressions such as comments about her lack of accent.

While in graduate school, Abdi worked with the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights. On a trip to Norway through this group, she connected with a Norwegian aid worker who had worked alongside Abdi’s father delivering aid in rural Somalia. Upon returning to the United States she began her own strategic initiatives, launching both of her business projects as a way to foster opportunities for sustainable change.

Abdi received her bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Luther College and her master’s in public policy from the University of Minnesota Humphrey School of Public Affairs.

Abdi’s lecture is supported by the Luther College Black Student Union and the women and gender studies and anthropology programs.