Oh hey Mina.

Hi all! My name is Amina Aden. I am a 23-year-old ambitious and outgoing individual with a love for traveling (yeah I know everyone says that) and a real passion for international development, research and empowerment on all spheres of society. I am originally from Silver Spring, Maryland and have spent the last two years in London traveling and completing my Masters degree in International Relations. You may find me talking a lot about my time in London but ultimately I’m looking at calling DC home and for my fiancé to join me from London.

International Relations? Wait what? That’s a big jump.

I want to create digital experiences to communicate development policy and analysis.

“Development is the smartest investments we can make in our shared future, our security, our prosperity.” — President Barack Obama

How did I get into the world of UX Design? I returned to the DC/MD area in January and was super unsatisfied with my job hunt. DC is the place to be if you’ve studied what I’ve studied. However, I consistently felt the traditional roles for a post-graduate in my field were more limiting and just not the right fit.

After some serious soul searching and advice from my GA alum and best friend, I have been drawn to joining the General Assembly family and taking the UX Design immersive course and expanding my skill set. I graduated from Salisbury University in May of 2014 with a duel degree in Media Production and International Relations. I was not satisfied with my traditional media degree and now look to return back to the world of media through a different lens — user experience design. Back in the Media Production days, my favorite part of putting together a package was interviewing, researching the story and putting together a story board . Doesn’t seem like UX is a far reach, right? There are honestly a lot of moving pieces throughout my life that has led me to this point -but here I am and I am so excited.

I find it extremely important and invigorating for the more vulnerable parts of society to share the security and freedoms I am fortunate enough to hold. During my MA, I quickly became engrossed in the plight towards ensuring food security while researching for my dissertation, “The Notion of Hunger: A Development Critique on Food Insecurity in India.” I hope to ultimately marry my passion for development and design to empower communities and harness a deep understanding for development initiatives — specifically global food insecurity and family planning. I want to ensure any final product/end result understands the needs, limitations and concerns of its target users.

I have some real big goals and I hope to use my tool belt of knowledge, passion and experience to achieve them. Looking forward to blogging on here during my time at GA.

You can also find me on twitter: @aminayaden.