Rep. Iman Jodeh, D-Aurora, finds being a member of the Colorado House almost surreal.
The first Muslim and Palestinian-American elected to the Colorado General Assembly said she never considered running for elected office before it all just fell together.
âIâm not used to it yet,â she said in an interview at HiRa Cafe & Patisserie in Aurora, a block away from where she grew up.
âI was never advocating or doing social justice work to build a track record,â Jodeh (pronounced E-man JU-dah) said. âThe end game was never to be an elected (official).â
It was to give a voice and to help others in need, she said, whether through the Interfaith Alliance or Meet the Middle East, the nonprofit she started 10 years ago to build relationships between citizens in the United States and the Middle East.