Aissa is from Durham, NC, and was a History and Environmental Science student at Howard University. In Durham, she co-founded the Durham Youth Climate Justice Initiative, a community-based organization that seeks to set an intentional space for young people of color interested in climate advocacy work. Durham's City Council recently appointed her as the youngest-ever (at 18) Durham City-County Environmental Affairs Board Member. As a Marshall Scholar, Aissa will be at the nexus of climate science and environmental justice and work to make a more sustainable, healthy, and socially just world.