As ONA’s Policy Analyst, Ekhlas Ahmed works with the ONA Director and internal and external stakeholders to improve the long-term economic and civic integration of immigrants into the State’s workforce and communities. She supports the programs and operations of the office, including research, policy analysis, and planning. 

Ahmed joined the Office of New Americans (ONA) with a decade of experience as a nonprofit leader, educator, and advocate for refugees. Most recently, she founded a nonprofit organization dedicated to uplifting the voices of immigrant refugees and asylum seekers in our state, providing funding for high school students to pursue higher education in Maine. Ahmed has also worked as an English language educator in public schools and as the Co-Director of the Cultural Alliance of Maine, where she advocated for the visibility of the arts and secured funding to enrich Maine’s cultural landscape. 

As a refugee herself, Ahmed fled the civil war in Sudan in 2005 with her family, including her parents and three younger brothers. Resettled in Portland, she earned her Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations and a Master’s Degree in Education from the University of Southern Maine.