Jamal Abukar joined the McKnight Foundation’s Finance team as a senior accountant in March 2022. In this role, he manages investment accounting, general accounting, and financial reporting, and assists with annual audits, budgets, and tax filings.
The owner of a small accounting firm, Jamal has spent his career working in accounting across a variety of industries, including healthcare, human services, and banking. He most recently served as a grants accountant at Hennepin Healthcare. He has two bachelor’s degrees, in accounting and business management, from Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota.
Jamal grew up in Somalia and Kenya and immigrated to the United States in 1997 to avoid war and turmoil. Drawing on his bilingual skills, he worked at Hennepin County Library teaching Somali refugees how to use computers.
Jamal lives in Brooklyn Park with his wife and two young children. He enjoys cooking and traveling to visit family in Toronto and London.