Twin Cities-based Somali youth group seeks funding for expansion

Ka Joog executive director Mohamed Farah addressed his concerns over the attack on a Nairobi mall in September 2013. MPR Photo/Amanda Snyder.

By Laura Yuen
Monday, January 19, 2015

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A Twin Cities program that helps Somali-American youth is asking for millions of dollars in state money for a plan to combat the threat of radicalization.

The nonprofit Ka Joog will detail its two-year plan for expanding educational, employment and arts programs across the state Tuesday.

Ka Joog has won honors from the White House and the FBI for its work with Twin Cities youth.

Executive director Mohamed Farah said he'd like to replicate Ka Joog's success in other cities, where he said threats of radicalization may exist. "I think ISIS, and same as al-Shabab, is willing to engage pretty much anybody they possibly can," he said. "If they can get a kid in St. Cloud or Willmar, if they have a platform, they'll do it. So everyone is pretty much at risk."

The group is asking for $4 million but has yet to find a sponsor for a bill.

"When we talk about radicalization, it's not just about getting radicalized overnight," Farah said. "There's a lot of underlying issues. There's a lack of employment, lack of mentorship and guidance, the lack of education. All of these underlying issues are what we're trying to solve."

Farah said Ka Joog's ambitions are in line with a Department of Justice pilot program aimed at preventing violent extremism in the Twin Cities.

Meanwhile, the U-S Attorney Andy Luger is leading an initiative that aims to bolster youth and jobs-training programs as a way to counter violent extremism.

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