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Broadlawns Trustee
Meet Shaimaa Aly
Shaimaa immigrated to the USA in early 2000, earning her BA in Economics and Statistics from Cairo University in Egypt. Later she earned her MBA from Drake University in Iowa. In her day job, Shaimaa works as Senior Business Execution Manager for a local home mortgage company.
After graduating Community Leadership Program (CLP) class of 2020, Shaimaa joined both West Des Moines Human Rights Commission; Capital Crossroads Social Capital Chair; and DSM USA 4 Equity Collective keeping racial equity front and center of her work in the community.
Shaimaa was recognized by the Des Moines Business Record as 40 under 40, Class of 2021, for her active volunteerism and for elevating the voices of marginalized populations. Shaimaa is an active volunteer for Genesis Youth Foundation helping African immigrant youth succeed academically, intellectually, and athletically and find their identity in American society. Shaimaa uses her cooking and hospitality skills to help Non for Profit, like CultureALL, raise money and hosting share meals to invite cross-cultural conversation.
Why Shaimaa is running for Broadlawns Board of Trustees
Shaimaa has been an active volunteer for non-profits that focused on immigrant women and youth for 15 years. In 2018, she went through a divorce and faced financial hardship, which opened her eyes to the challenges single parents go through. She came out of this experience with a personal commitment to make a bigger impact on the lives of others and not just volunteering. She felt a need to play a larger role in challenging the system to remove barriers and improve the quality of our underprivileged residents.
Eager to learn where to start, Shaimaa joined the Community Leadership Program (CLP), which broaden her perspective around Capital Crossroads mainly Human, Physical and Wiliness, and Social Capital. Before graduating from the program, COVID struck and the early data from the pandemic clearly reflected the disparities in our health care. The evidence showed that black Americans, along with other minorities and marginalized populations, were at a higher risk of getting COVID and have lower chances of fully recovering from it. This is where Shaimaa knew she needed to roll up her sleeves and work to make a difference in Polk County.
Shaimaa grew up witnessing her mom, who is a dermatologist and plastic surgeon, running mobile clinics that delivered medical services to rural underserved areas. Inspired by her mom’s dedication, and witnessing the gap in health equity, Shaimaa decided to run for Broadlawns Trustee to Elevate the level of services, Expand on it, and Engage with our residents to listen to their needs and meet their expectations. At the end of the day, in the words of one of her political heroes - the late U.S. Senator from Minnesota, Paul Wellstone, "We all do better when we all do better!"