Omar Fateh is the son of hard-working immigrant parents from Somalia. His father arrived in America in 1963 to study civil engineering on a full scholarship to Montana State University. His mother immigrated later and received her masters degree. His parents taught him the necessity of hard work. They instilled in him the values of leadership and personal sacrifice and raised him to work first and foremost to increase opportunity, justice, and equity for our community.
While completing his Master’s Degree in Public Administration, Fateh spent his early career working youth deemed at-risk, especially students of color, to find opportunities in education. Next, Fateh worked for the City of Minneapolis as a Community Specialist, where he worked to improve the City’s outreach to East African communities. Next, he worked for the MN Department of Transportation as a project coordinator, functioning as a liaison between the state and outside researchers who studied the impact of MNDOT projects on the environment, communities, etc. Before his first run for the legislature in 2018, Fateh worked for the MN Department of Revenue in the property tax division. Since his 2018 run, Fateh has worked for the University of Minnesota as a business analyst. This continues to be his full-time day job outside of the legislative session.
In 2020, Fateh ran and won a successful primary campaign for MN Senate representing District 62, where he currently resides as the incumbent Senator. In the senate, Fateh sits on the Human Serivices Reform, Human Services Licensing, State Government & Elections, and Technology & Reform Committees. He is also a member of the Council of Minnesotans of African Heritage (CMAH) as well as the sitting DFL Senator on the Legislative Commission on Cybersecurity.
Outside of work, Fateh is engages in volunteerism. He is passionate about engaging with new immigrant communities on destigmatizing issues of youth mental health and addiction. Fateh values the mentors in his own life and is committed to paying it forward. He is a mentor with Tusaalo Mentoring.
Historically, Fateh has been active with local organizations and initiatives such as Neighborhoods Organizing for Change, VoteYes4Kids, 15Now, Minnesota Association of Public Employees, and the DFL Somali Caucus. He is committed to supporting progressive social movements from his platform as senator, including the movement for public safety reform at the local level. He also supports local initatives for environmental and racial justice through restorative urban planning, including reparations to Black neighborhoods destroyed by highways and preventing new pollution from coming to historically overpolluted areas in our city.
Omar Fateh and his wife Kaltum currently rent an apartment in the Ventura Village neighborhood.