# Isra Hirsi

> Isra Hirsi (b.2003): Somali-American co-founder of the US Youth Climate Strike.

Source page: https://calankii.com/en/people/isra-hirsi/
Last checked: 2026-11-12
Publisher: Calankii (https://calankii.com)

## Who is she?

Isra Hirsi is an American environmental activist who co-founded and co-led the US Youth Climate Strike ([Wikipedia, Isra Hirsi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isra_Hirsi)). She was born on 22 February 2003 in Minneapolis to Ilhan Omar, the Somali-American member of Congress, and Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi (same source). See [Ilhan Omar](/en/people/ilhan-omar/) and [Somalis in Minneapolis–St Paul](/en/diaspora/minneapolis-st-paul/).

## Climate activism

She joined her high school's environmental club in her first year at Minneapolis South High School ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isra_Hirsi)). In January 2019 she co-founded the US Youth Climate Strike, the American arm of the global youth climate strike movement, and helped organise hundreds of student strikes on 15 March and 3 May 2019 (same source). She won a Brower Youth Award in 2019, and was named on *Fortune*'s 40 Under 40 in government and politics in 2020 (same source).

## Barnard College

She began studying at Barnard College, Columbia University, in 2021 ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isra_Hirsi)). On 18 April 2024 she was suspended for taking part in the Gaza solidarity encampment at Columbia, and was arrested that day by New York police with other student protesters and released the same evening (same source).

## In short

A Minneapolis-born climate organiser who co-founded the US Youth Climate Strike at 15.

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