From HHS to the USA

With fewer than 20 percent of district superintendent roles being held by women in the state of Minnesota, Dr. Rhoda Mhiripiri-Reed, superintendent, loves reminding her male colleagues that women are here to represent.

“As girls and women, we are more powerful than we could ever imagine. We are observant, emotionally-in-touch with humanity, strength, resilience, and we see the change we want to have in the world,” Mhiripiri-Reed said. “As girls and women, we need to always question why more men are represented in key leadership roles in our society, and how we will change that.”

Mhiripiri-Reed is the first female and person of color to serve as superintendent in the Hopkins School District, seceding John Schultz, now at Edina.

Despite her educational success (attending both Yale and Harvard) and profound leadership skills, Mhiripiri-Reed has continued to face sexism throughout her careers in both subtle and obvious ways, particularly from her male counterparts.

“I’ve sat at tables and expressed an idea to a group of men who didn’t initially respond, but then when a man expresses the same or similar idea later on during the same meeting, all of a sudden it’s seen as a valuable contribution,” Mhiripiri-Reed said. “There are many behaviors women leaders have to avoid so they don’t get characterized in certain ways. To me, this is sexism, and it’s unfair.”

Mhiripiri-Reed uses instances intended to be categorizing or shaming as teachable moments. Her advice to female students, who have been in similar situations, is to use others’ behaviors as learning moments for themselves.

“We need to reach our true brilliance and resist others’ tendencies to downplay our ideas or put us into corners or boxes. It is women who have and raise the boys who turn into male leaders; they didn’t just get their on their own. If we can raise leaders, we can BE leaders,” Mhiripiri-Reed said.

In addition to the selection of Mhiripiri-Reed as superintendent, the broader Hopkins community has taken steps to increase female representation in other leadership positions that influence the everyday lives of students.

With the election of Fartun Ahmed and Jen Westmoreland Bouchard (as well as Chris LaTondresse) to the Hopkins School Board on Nov. 7, the balance has shifted to reflect the gender makeup and diversity of the district. With 45 percent of students being of color, (21 percent of which are black), Ahmed is the first Somali-American woman ever to be elected to a U.S. school board.

During her campaign for School Board, Ahmed took action to amplify the voices of Somali families in the district prior to her election. She invited Somali families to discuss their concerns with Mhiripiri-Reed and nine Hopkins principals.

“My idea in creating that meeting was to develop a relationship between the school district and the Somali parents, so that they don’t have to feel like nobody is listening or nobody wants to hear their input or how they are feeling,” Ahmed said in October.

Fartun’s election is particularly significant as she is the first Somali-American woman elected to a school board in the country. Minnesota has a history of progressive politics, leading the nation in electing women, and more specifically, women of traditionally disenfranchised groups.

As voters across the nation elected President Donald Trump, voters in Minnesota elected Ilhan Omar, the first Somali-American legislator, to the state House of Representatives. Her election has since received national attention. Earlier this fall, Omar was featured in Time magazine as part of their series “Firsts: Women Who Are Changing the World.”

Currently, women make up approximately one third of the Minnesota state legislature, though the population is 50.3 percent female. Compared to the rest of the nation, female representation is high. However, when the legislature is not representative of the population, certain groups can be overlooked.

One local female empowerment group propelling young women into careers historically dominated by men, from politics to mechanical engineers, is Girls United MN.

Founded in 2014 by Jessica Melnik, the group is working to empower and educate girls of all ages throughout the community.

In October, Girls United MN, along with 10 fifth and sixth grade Glen Lake Elementary school students, painted canvases with empowering quotes on them. The canvases were hung in the fifth and sixth grade girls’ bathrooms in order to inspire and support other young females.

Girls United MN plans to continue this project at other elementary schools throughout the Hopkins School District.

“Girls United is an incredible group that I am very proud and thankful to have been a part of,” said Sally Reed, junior, to The Royal Page in November. “Through our meetings over the years, I have been exposed to many issues that women face throughout the world, as well as almost always left feeling empowered and ready to take action in the community to help others feel strongly about and be aware of these same issues.”