Aishah Abdala

Aishah (she/they) was border town raised with the privilege of growing up between Tijuana, B.C., and San Ysidro, CA. Their experience as a fronteriza led Aishah to dedicate their time and service to understanding health as a social effect, health as an institution, and abolition as a process of regeneration towards community-led systems change. While receiving her B.A. in Public Health with a minor in Public Policy at UC Berkeley, they served local community-based organizations centered on Environmental Justice coordinating service events and developing an EJ curriculum for UC Berkeley students that centers narratives and efforts toward systems change by impacted communities and away from the academy. After graduating, Aishah served capacity-building initiatives for community-based organizations, and initiatives to influence public health departments, and philanthropic institutions to uplift grassroots efforts for health equity. While pursuing her dual Master’s in Social Welfare and Public Policy at UCLA, Aishah developed skills in developing therapeutic relationships as they counseled high school students through the COVID-19 pandemic and supported incarcerated men completing their community-based treatment programs toward a housing placement. Aishah is now an associate project manager with T.R.U.S.T. South LA supporting preservation and small-scale development initiatives to stabilize South LA neighborhoods and its residents by expanding access to quality permanently affordable housing and shared ownership models.