Hamse Warfa
Hamse Warfa
Hamse Warfa is the Deputy Commissioner for Workforce Development at the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). He is a native of Mogadish, Somalia. At DEED, he ensures leading efforts to effectively serve immigrants and underserved populations by improving Minnesota's grant-making process. He is also a recipient of Bush Foundation Scholarship.[1]
Early Life
But when we came to the camps, we became nobodies.
We had this registration number, and that was our identity.
We didn't have any other identity.
We didn't exist in other ways.
After three years in the Kenyan refugee camp, his family was resettled to the United States In 1994.
We spent three-years-and-a-half in Dadaab refugee camp in Kenya before my family and I were resettled in the United States.
We came with the impression that, once and for all, we are — finally came to regain freedom.
Hamse bagged his Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from University of San Diego, and he also holds a Masters in Organizational Management and Leadership from Springfield College Massachusetts.[4]
Career
Hamse Warfa has accumulated more than 20 years of experience in economic development, community building, philanthropy, public policy and Entrepreneurship.[3]
He is the co-founder and the executive vice president at BanQu Inc., an economic identity software company selected for an Innovation Award by the Presidency of Barack Obama administration and by MIT. Hamse also founded Tayo Consulting Group, which assists philanthropic clients refine their goals and identify program activities to fund.[5]
Hamse was formerly a senior program officer at the Margaret A. Cargill Foundation leading the foundation’s domestic and international grantmaking programs.
He is the Author “America Here I Come: A Somali Refugee’s Quest for Hope.”
He was appointed deputy commissioner for workforce development at the department of employment and economic development (DEED) in April 2019.
On appointment Commissioner Steve Grove who appointed him said:
He is proven leader who will help us continue to move forward.[1]
Awards
BanQu Inc
BanQu was co-founded by Hamse Warfa.
It is a Software company on a mission to connect refugees, the displaced, and the world’s poorest to the global economy through a secure, portable digital identity that maintains transaction history through a proprietary Blockchain-based platform.