A unique life journey led Leila Malow to The Kresge Foundation and the human services sector. Born in Somalia, her family eventually immigrated to the U.S., and she was raised mostly in Minnesota, where she received her undergraduate degree in political science at Macalester College in Saint Paul, Minn.

Now a master’s student at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan, she is eager to spend her summer as the Fellow for Kresge’s Human Services Program. 

“My biggest concern,” Malow said, “is making sure people with low incomes are able to live in dignity in communities that are healthy and provide opportunites.”

Before coming to Kresge, Malow lived in the Twin Cities and worked at the Minnesota Legislature