Consultant Profile

Dr. Agitu Wodajo

Agitu has been committed to serving the whole person: addressing physical and spiritual needs, for decades: In Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, she founded a first-of-its-kind women’s NGO, the Women’s Self-Reliance Association (WSRA) to empower poor, displaced women to become self-sufficient and improve the quality of their family’s lives. WSRA provided training in marketable skills, including leatherwork/crafts, sewing and food processing, as well as management and marketing. Finally, the association helped the women with equipment and start-up money, organizing them in a cooperative to start their own small business. WSRA was instrumental in the establishment of the first of its kind Ministry of Women’s Affairs in Ethiopia in 1992. Soon after she resettled in South Minneapolis, she founded another nonprofit organization, International Self-reliance Agency for Women, Inc. (ISAW), that helped immigrant women to make a positive difference, like the NGO she started in Ethiopia. ISAW provided diverse immigrant women with culturally appropriate services that build self-reliance, and policy change advocacy that lifts barriers to self-sufficiency. Examples of her advocacy role include changes in these two policies: 1) The bill that was enacted in August 2004, exempting foreign-qualified nurses in Minnesota from the CGFNS certification process and allowing them to take their NCLEX RN exam after fulfilling Minnesota’s requirement and practice nursing (Agitu participated in the drafting and testified at the senate hearing of this bill) 2) The new rule that was officially adopted by the Minnesota Board of Barber and Cosmetologist Examiners on May 15, 2006, exempting hair-braiders from state cosmetology licensing requirements. ISAW obtained Special Consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations in 2003. Born and raised in Ethiopia, Agitu obtained diplomas in community nursing and as a pediatric nurse practitioner before she moved to the United States. where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Human Services, an Executive Master of Public Affairs as a Bush Leadership Fellow, and a PhD in Christian Leadership. She has received awards and recognitions from the governor of Minnesota, Metropolitan State University, the Department of Homeland Security, and KARE 11 News for her commitment to bringing about a positive change in the immigrant community of the Twin Cities metro area. She has travelled extensively for study tours, international conferences, and workshops, and has witnessed firsthand the need to address our shared problems