Abdullahi Abdulle is a transportation planner, veteran of the Minnesota Army National Guard, and city of New Brighton Council Member. He made history in 2020 to become the first person of color and the first Muslim to get elected to public office in the city’s history. As a Council Member, he pushes for the implementation of livability initiatives ranging from suburban transportation options and affordable housing to sustainability and climate adaptation policies. He played an instrumental role to establish New Brighton’s first diversity, equity, and inclusion policy, paid parental leave, climate action plan, lowering speed limits, complete streets policy, and improving housing conditions among other important initiatives.
Abdullahi is an immigrant from the East African country of Somalia. He comes from a culture of walking and walkability lifestyle. Since he can remember in his formative years he was walking everywhere; to the grocery store, to school, to a friend’s house or the beach to play football or as we call it here “soccer”. He has deep appreciation and interest for walking and walkability.
On his day job, Abdullahi works for the Minnesota Department of Transportation as a transportation equity planning coordinator. He leads the agency’s Advancing Transportation Equity Initiative; an effort created to study and address the different ways the transportation system and associated decision-making processes affect the lives of underserved and overburdened communities in Minnesota.
Abdullahi has a master’s degree in urban planning and a bachelor’s degree in construction management and business administration from Minnesota State University, Mankato.
