Muna Ali

Muna Ali is the Executive Director of the Multicultural Association of Wood Buffalo, the President of the Eritrean Association, and a proud Fort McMurray resident for the last 16 years.

YMM: What keeps you in Fort McMurray?

MA: Fort McMurray is home to me. My Canadian home. I met my partner here, had my child here and built my career here. This town has welcomed me from the beginning, and I have made some lifelong friends that are now my family.

YMM: What does community mean to you?

MA: Community means being a part of something bigger, bigger than me and my immediate family. It’s means belonging and working and playing together and contributing to the overall quality of life for each other.

YMM: What accomplishment are you most proud of?

MA: I am definitely very proud of being a mother, my daughter is an amazing young lady with tremendous self-confidence and love for life, and I taught her that.

YMM: How would friends and acquaintances describe you?

MA: One of my friends says there is only one “Muna Ali.” I’ll take that as a compliment. But most people would describe me as being Worldly and kind and a huge advocate for equality.

YMM: What motivates you?

MA: Growing up in Sudan, life wasn’t always easy for my family. People worked hard for very little. I became hungry for something better at a very young age, and I wanted a different life. I continue striving to be better than I was the day before, but I am always grateful for where I came from.

YMM: How should success be measured?

MA: Happiness is the first thing that comes to mind. That is how I measure my accomplishments because I can have all the material things and all the credentials in the world, but all that is meaningless without happiness.

YMM: Who is your hero?

MA: My mother is definitely the person I look up to the most. She is the rock of our family, she is a strong woman who taught me to be a good human. She is a loyal  woman of God who is gentle and kind to others.