Mohamed Abdirizak was born in Mogadishu, Somalia and currently serves as the founder and executive director of Somali One, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help Somalia achieve peace and stability through accountable and democratic governance.

From 2010 to 2014, Mohamed served as country director for the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Nairobi, Kenya, where he led a team of international and national experts that contributed to the efforts that ended the transitional period in Somalia.

From 2008 to 2010, Mohamed served as a political advisor to the special representative of the secretary general at the U.N. Political Office for Somalia (UNPOS). He facilitated talks during critical stages of the Djibouti peace process and assisted in the preparation of a ceasefire agreement, which brought together the Somali Transitional Government (TFG) and the Alliance for the Reliberation of Somalia (ARS).

As Chief of Staff to the Presidency for the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia from 2007 to 2008, Mohamed was charged with overseeing coordination among the Transitional Federal Institutions, armed forces and intelligence services and their relationships to the Presidency.

Mohamed earned a master’s degree in international relations from the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and received his B.S. in agriculture from N.W.F.P Agricultural University in Pakistan.

Mohamed is highly regarded among his Somali colleagues as well as the diplomatic community working on Somalia for his leadership and ability to forge ties between various political and regional actors in the country and in the diaspora.