Ayan Omar: Connecting Diversity in St. Cloud

When Ayan Omar was an elementary school child in Georgia, she was an English-as-a-second-language student and “mute,” because she was insecure about her language skills. An English language learning teacher, Mrs. Lindsey, pulled her out of class every day for English lessons, which partially consisted of a beanbag chair and books on audio cassettes.

Today, Omar credits her teacher with finding “that the best way to teach me was to provide me the space. Mrs. Lindsay allowed me to find myself in books.”

Inspired by her school environment, Omar grew up to be a language arts teacher. Since 2021, she has been director of equity services for St. Cloud Public Schools.

Omar identifies herself as a Somali American, Black, a refugee, and a generation 1.5 American — meaning someone who came to the U.S. as a child from another country. She grew up in a family of 12 and is a co-parent of two daughters. She continues to be an avid reader. “I buried myself in books growing up in the U.S., particularly the writings of Alice Walker, Toni Morrison, and Zora Neale Hurston. Finding the Black female storyline has allowed me to find a path forward.”

Omar moved to Minnesota from Georgia in 2005 to study education at St. Cloud State University. The city was undergoing a dramatic demographic shift as more Somali refugees moved to the area. According to a recent Minnesota Public Radio story, St. Cloud’s population of roughly 69,000 people has become increasingly diverse in recent years. Its Black population grew from about 1,700 in 2000 to nearly 15,000 in 2020, according to census data. Approximately 4,400 of those residents have roots from Somalia, similar to the percentage of Irish and Norwegian. The dominant heritage is German.   

In recent years, Omar has offered “My Neighbor Is a Muslim” workshops across Central Minnesota. The workshops, based on work created by Lutheran Social Services, were provided through UniteCloud, a St. Cloud–based social justice organization that shut down in February after they faced three lawsuits for calling out local racism.

St. Cloud school board member Natalie Copeland, who co-founded UniteCloud, worked with Omar on anti-racism and cultural understanding sessions. “To know Ayan is to love Ayan,” she says. “She is ever-patient, and her smile can disarm even the most unwilling participant at a cultural understanding workshop. Although she can come across as very gentle, she is firm in her values and goals. She knows who she is.”

Influence and Inspiration

Says Omar, “Something I learned early on in Minnesota is that ‘Minnesota Nice’ is too nuanced and unintentional compared to the directness and loudness of my Somali culture.”

She also adds: “I have learned there are ample opportunities to learn and engage in community-focused events: celebrating culture, honoring culture, bringing people together. I see many institutions actively participating through partnerships and conversations.”

At Technical High School in St. Cloud, where Omar became the school’s first Somali American teacher in 2014, students approached her about starting an international club, aimed at celebrating diversity and creating school-wide connections. The after-school club plans and hosts activities, which have included teaching non-Somali hockey and football students a traditional Somali dance, dhaanto.

Omar has a mental list of people whom she would like to see more engaged in the school’s cultural community. “In Georgia, 99 percent of my teachers were teachers of color,” she says. ”I lived in Clarkston, which had a strong refugee resettlement program.

“I had the privilege of attending school with 40-plus nations represented in one building. I saw the additional burdens and barriers that we collectively push through.”

She names many specific teachers as those who offered support as well as tough love when needed. For example, “Ms. Irvin, my seventh-grade math teacher — there was no grace from her, but I loved how she challenged me. I recall that her line was, ‘You can always do better.’”

Omar’s teachers influenced her to become a public servant. At one point that included considering a medical career. Ultimately, she says, “I wanted to become a teacher so I could be the adult for a kid who looked like me. In 20 years, I want them to say, ‘Ms. Omar went above and beyond in finding the connection, finding the support, and continuing that connection.’”

Omar keeps in touch with former students. Two of those students are third-year pre-med students at the University of Minnesota, working on bringing CPR and first-aid training to Somali mothers. One of the young women was impacted when her brother almost died at home. Students asked Omar for help getting the project off the ground. She connected them with a space at the St. Cloud Community Outpost House (aka COP House) and a course at the St. Cloud Community and Technical College, so they could audit a class and get trained in first aid.

“Many students have brilliant ideas. They’re just looking to share it, and pull in the right people, so they can take it off the ground,” Omar says.

Omar became the school district’s director of equity in 2021 after being encouraged by Willie Jett, who is now the commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Education, to apply for the position. Jett is formerly superintendent of the St. Cloud Area School District.

In 2013, Jett noticed Omar teaching with the book The Color Purple. He introduced himself to her after class. “I didn’t know who he was, because I was just a student teacher. He walked me into the [human resources staffing] office and he said, ‘Do whatever you need to do to keep her here.’”

Among other things, Omar has since co-created an Inclusive Decision Making Framework tool with Laurie Putman, St. Cloud Area School District’s superintendent. It helps to ensure that people from disenfranchised communities are not left behind.

“What I hope to do is bring enough awareness to adults in a position of power,” says Omar. “[Equity] work requires a lot of listening and intentional responding. The question is: how can we embed equity in every space that provides service to our students and our families?”

Ayan Omar says authentic equity work requires three skills: effective questioning, effective listening, and the ability to respond compassionately.