Shaimaa Aly

Business support manager 4, vice president
Wells Fargo

Age: 39

Children: Omar Hamad and Ali Hamad

Mentor: Jason Belding, risk deputy chief exam manager, Wells Fargo 

Why she’s a Forty: 

Shaimaa is a volunteer for Genesis Youth, helping African immigrant youths succeed academically and athletically and find their identity in the American society. She uses her cooking and hospitality skills to help nonprofits, like CultureALL, raise money. Her Egyptian signature dish “Shawarma” was featured in the 2019 World Food and Music Festival. After graduating from the Community Leadership Program in 2020, Shaimaa launched the “Randomly Selected for Random Search” podcast to share her perspective on her life in America as an immigrant Muslim single mother. She joined the West Des Moines Human Rights Commission and is the Capital Crossroads Social Capital Chair and keeps racial equity front and center of her work. 

What are your goals in your role at your company? 

Create and maintain a culture where team members feel empowered raising their hands to bring forward opportunities where we can improve processes controls, efficiency and effectiveness, and mitigate risk exposure. Only then, we can attain sustainable processes and better serve our customers. 

What are your goals for your community involvement? 

Being part of Capital Crossroads, Social Capital Chair, DSM USA 4 Equity Task Force, and West Des Moines Human Rights Commission, my goal is to shift the narrative from placing Band-Aid and chicken wire solutions on racial issues to tackling the root cause of structured racism through policy and systemic changes. 

What's your biggest passion, and why? 

Racial equity and social justice. I believe they are the core to end structured racism and move our nation forward. It aches my heart to see us still lingering around issues that Dr. Martin Luther King undertook 57 years ago. We have made progress, yet we are far from done. 

What is it that drives you? 

As an immigrant Muslim-American single mother, I have faced so many challenges that shaped who I am today. Yet I consider myself educationally and economically privileged enough to step up and advocate for our vulnerable population because at a certain point in my life I was in their shoes. 

What are your future aspirations? 

I want to see our veteran community leaders passing the torch to young BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and people of color], who stepped up during 2020 social and racial unrest. These young leaders have shown us that effective rapid change is attainable even with limited resources and without having an organized structure on the ground. 

Three hobbies: I use my cooking skills to bring people together and promote cultural awareness. Karaoke, not because I have a great voice; rather, it allows me to have fun with making mistakes. Water sports, because it gives me an excuse (not that I need one) to go wild.

Fun fact: She is a former car racer, but she says that doesn’t mean she’s proud of her history of speeding tickets. But she definitely has the gear and the need for speed in her blood. 

ONE word: Courageous. 

What is your wish for the Central Iowa business community? 

I wish for a space or platform where nonprofits and community leaders can come together to coordinate efforts and streamline funds with donors across the metro so we as a region can be strategic in tackling our community needs. 

Anything else you haven't addressed that people must know about you? 

I didn't come out of the box like that, I have evolved over the years. I don’t come with a manual, either. Nor do I represent all Muslim-American women.