Ayesha Ghazi Edwin

Ayesha Ghazi Edwin, MSW '10, is a political social worker and community organizer with over 15 years of experience in various social justice areas, including labor, healthcare, voting, immigration, housing and disability. Ghazi Edwin serves as an assistant clinical professor, specializing in community-based research, creating community-engaged courses, and fostering learning initiatives that link the university community to social change movements and public policy innovation. She is also the creator and co-director of the School of Social Work's Disability Inclusion and Accessible Design (DIAD) Certificate Program.

In 2022, Ghazi Edwin was elected to Ann Arbor City Council representing Ward 3 - a region that includes the School of Social Work - for a four-year term. She also serves as the Governor Whitmer-appointed Chair of the Michigan Asian Pacific American Affairs Commission, a role she was selected for due to her extensive engagement and advocacy for the Asian American community. In her prior roles, she has served as the executive director of American Citizens for Justice, a civil rights organization rooted in the legacy of Vincent Chin; deputy director of Detroit Disability Power, an organization focused on building the political and organizing power of people with disabilities; and clinic director of American Indian Health and Family Services, Inc., a federally-funded health clinic dedicated to serving the spiritual, communal, and health needs of the American Indian and Alaskan Native communities in southeast Michigan and beyond.

In addition to her MSW, Ghazi Edwin holds a Lean Six Sigma from U-M's School of Engineering. Her contributions to the university community have been acknowledged with awards that include U-M's 2024 James T. Neubacher Award, the university's highest distinction for advancing access and inclusion for people with disabilities, the 2021 DEI Impact Award and the Provost's Teaching Innovation Prize.