Isra Hirsi
From Capitol Steps to Campus Arrest
Born on 22 February 2003 in Minneapolis, Isra Hirsi co-founded the US Youth Climate Strike at fifteen and helped organise the March 2019 school strikes across the United States, arguing that climate activism must centre the communities of colour hit hardest by pollution and climate change.
- 16 min listen
- Climate activist
- Youth organiser
- Co-founder, US Youth Climate Strike
Isra Hirsi’s full 16 min audio biography, From Capitol Steps to Campus Arrest, is available on Lyfestori for iOS. Listen to a free preview below.
A life in brief
Isra Hirsi: life and timeline.
She went to her first protest at six and joined Black Lives Matter marches in the Twin Cities at twelve. In her high school environmental club she was usually the only Black student in a room that talked about loving lakes and hiking. So Isra Hirsi helped start her own movement: at fifteen she co-founded the US Youth Climate Strike, and three weeks after turning sixteen she was leading chants outside the Capitol. Five years later, as a Barnard student, she was arrested at Columbia's Gaza encampment.
- 2003
Born in Minneapolis
Born on 22 February to Ilhan Omar, who arrived in the United States as a Somali refugee in 1995, and Ahmed Hirsi. She grows up in Minneapolis's Somali community.
- 2015
Black Lives Matter protests
At twelve she joins demonstrations in the Twin Cities after the police killing of Jamar Clark in north Minneapolis. She had been to her first protest at six.
- 2018
Walkouts and her mother's election
At Minneapolis South High School she helps lead walkouts after the Parkland shooting. In November her mother is elected to Congress, one of the first two Muslim women in the House.
- 2019
Co-founds the US Youth Climate Strike
In January she and fellow teenage organisers, coordinating online in the wake of Greta Thunberg's school strikes, found the US Youth Climate Strike and become its co-executive directors.
- 2019
The 15 March strike
Students walk out across dozens of states as part of a global day of action. Just turned sixteen, she speaks in Washington, with her mother joining her on the Capitol grounds.
- 2019
Grist essay and Brower Youth Award
Ten days after the strike she argues in Grist that the climate movement needs more people like her. Later that year she wins a Brower Youth Award.
- 2020
National recognition
She is named to BET's Future 40 and Fortune's 40 Under 40 list in government and politics.
- 2021
Barnard College
Graduates from Minneapolis South High School and starts at Barnard College, the women's college of Columbia University in New York.
- 2024
Suspension and arrest
On 17 April she helps set up the Gaza Solidarity Encampment on Columbia's South Lawn. The next day Barnard suspends her and the NYPD arrests her with more than a hundred other protesters; the suspension is lifted within weeks.
- 2025
Graduates from Barnard
In May she graduates, posting photos of herself on stage holding a Palestinian flag.
Major achievements
Isra Hirsi: major achievements.
- 01
US Youth Climate Strike
At fifteen she co-founded the national network that coordinated the March 2019 student strikes across the United States, part of a global day of action reported at about 1.4 million participants.
- 02
Widening the climate movement
Her writing and speeches argued that climate change is about who breathes polluted air and whose neighbourhoods host toxic sites — not only wilderness and polar bears.
- 03
Brower Youth Award
The Earth Island Institute's award for young environmental leaders recognised her in 2019, the year of the first strikes.
- 04
Fortune 40 Under 40
In 2020, at seventeen, she was named to Fortune's 40 Under 40 list for government and politics, and to BET's Future 40.
Turning points
Isra Hirsi: defining moments.
- 2017–2018
The only Black student in the room
Joining her high school environmental club, she found conversations centred on hiking, camping and lakes that did not reflect her life. She kept attending, reasoning that the room would only change if she stayed in it, and later wrote about that alienation.
- Early 2019
From club to national strike
Inspired by Greta Thunberg's Friday strikes, a handful of American teenagers organising online picked a date, built a website and recruited students state by state. On 15 March 2019 the plan became walkouts across the country.
- 2019 onwards
Two lives
Her mother's prominence brought harassment to Isra too, intensifying after President Trump's 2019 attacks on Ilhan Omar. She has written of living two lives — climate organiser and politician's daughter — and of wanting to be judged on her own work.
- April 2024
The Columbia encampment
Shifting her activism to Gaza, she was one of the organisers of the encampment that began on the day Columbia's president testified to Congress about antisemitism. She was suspended and arrested on 18 April; Barnard later lifted the suspension, and she graduated in 2025.
What you’ll take away
Lessons from Isra Hirsi’s life.
- 01
If the room doesn't fit, stay in it
She kept going to an environmental club where she felt like an outsider, and then built a movement that made room for people like her.
- 02
Ask who is missing
Her core argument was simple: climate solutions designed without the communities hit hardest tend to leave them out.
- 03
Young organisers can move fast
Teenagers with a website and a group chat coordinated student walkouts across the United States within weeks.
- 04
A famous name cuts both ways
Her mother's profile brought attention to her work and a stream of abuse with it. She chose to be known for her own causes rather than avoid them.
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FAQ
Frequently asked questions about Isra Hirsi.
Who is Isra Hirsi?
An American activist who co-founded the US Youth Climate Strike in 2019, at fifteen. She is the daughter of US Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota.
How old is Isra Hirsi?
She was born on 22 February 2003, which makes her twenty-three in 2026.
Where is Isra Hirsi from?
Minneapolis, Minnesota. She was born there and graduated from Minneapolis South High School in 2021.
Who is Isra Hirsi's father?
Ahmed Abdisalan Hirsi, Ilhan Omar's former husband. Isra takes her surname from him.
What did Isra Hirsi do?
She co-founded the US Youth Climate Strike and helped organise the 15 March 2019 school strikes across the United States. She later became involved in pro-Palestinian protests at Columbia University, where she was arrested in April 2024.
Where does Isra Hirsi go to college?
She attended Barnard College, the women's college of Columbia University, from 2021 and graduated in May 2025.
Why was Isra Hirsi suspended?
For taking part in the Gaza Solidarity Encampment at Columbia in April 2024. Barnard suspended her on 18 April, calling the encampment unauthorised; she was arrested the same day, and the suspension was lifted within weeks.
What is Isra Hirsi's religion?
She is Muslim. She has spoken about her experience as a Black Muslim woman in the environmental movement.
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16 min · one sitting