The Somali Education and Social Advocacy Center (SESAC) was founded in 2003 by Director Abdirizak Bihi and the current Board members.  Mr. Bihi had been organizing in the Minneapolis Somali-American community, since arriving here in 1996, around a number of social issues and wanted to form a non-profit to support his organizing work.

Mr. Bihi's vision came directly from the experience of his father, who was imprisoned for seventeen years in Somalia for consistently speaking out on behalf of community members.  When Mr. Bihi arrived in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, he found a community of Somalis who were living in poverty and struggling with many issues of injustice but wohse widespread fear kept them from speaking out.  On his own, Mr. Bihi set out to educate and train Somali leaders for civic action.  SESAC was created to support Mr. Bhi's organizing work.