Maryan Osman

Maryan is a San Diego native and a daughter of Somali refugees. She first aimed to be a researcher, studying biology and biochemistry at San Diego State University. When she wasn’t in a lab or at work, she was working on advancing health access and education for East African communities. Seeing firsthand the injustices that families like hers faced, she left science to more directly focus on addressing systemic barriers and oppression. Since then, Maryan has spent her career investing in our people, centering equity and justice while redefining what leadership can and should look like. She has held various roles in nonprofits and campaigns to more recently government, where she served as the Deputy Chief of Staff and Director of Community Empowerment for San Diego City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera.

With nearly a decade of experience in advocacy and organizing, leadership development, events and programming, and systems change work – she is excited to bring her learnings to Catalyst and help shape the ecosystem that is philanthropy.

In her spare time, she loves to explore urban environments (by foot, bike, or transit!), support small businesses (especially if they have good chai), and learn a move or two on the dance floor (bachata skills are a WIP…). She may or may not be a dog lover with a cute bestie named Lexi.