Teachers, drummer, journalist among newest Bush Foundation fellows

St. Paul's Bush Foundation has named its 2016 fellows — two dozen men and women including teachers, social service providers, a psychologist, a doctor and a Native American drummer.

The group also includes MPR News reporter Mukhtar Ibrahim, founder of the Minnesota-based Sahan Journal, an independent news source for East African and Somali people in the Twin Cities.

This year's Bush class was chosen "for their records of achievement and their extraordinary potential to make significant contributions in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and 23 Native nations that share the same geography," the foundation said in a statement.

Fellows receive up to $100,000 over as much as two years to develop their professional and leadership skills. Alumni of the program have sought advanced education, travel and other experiences.

Past foundation award winners include former Minnesota governor Arne Carlson, playwright August Wilson and Karen Driver, former Fond Du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa chair and President Barack Obama's special assistant for Native American affairs.

Ibrahim is the first Somali-American journalist to work at a major Twin Cities news outlet. His fellowship will include graduate school, and he plans to complete his master's degree in journalism at Columbia University.