Jude Husein, ‘21, M.A. ‘25, has used the foundations from her La Salle University education to give back to Philadelphia and the state through her roles in government and nonprofits.   

Although, Jude Husein, ‘21, M.A. ‘25, went on to spend her days at the State Capitol Building in Harrisburg, PA, as the Chief of Staff at the Pennsylvania State Senate, her political roots go back to her time in La Salle University’s Political Science Program.  

Husein, a first-generation student, started her higher education journey at community college, but transferred to La Salle because of the tight-knit campus and an Explorer aunt.  

Living off campus made the early days at 20^th and Olney slightly challenging for Husein, but that didn’t last for long.  

“My time on campus was a bit tough at first commuting,” she said. “But once I found my footing, I found professors in the Political Science Department, like Professor Thomas and Professor Glatzer, that truly believed in me. It gave me great confidence to keep going.”  

Husein is still in contact with Mark Thomas, Ph.D., an assistant professor of political science and international relations, and Miguel Glatzer, Ph.D., a professor of political science and international relations, and welcomes the space they provide for her to brainstorm and workshop her thoughts. 

While her path to La Salle was not completely straight, her major choice was.  

“I always knew I would land in policy, advocacy, organizing, and disrupting. And political science seemed the way to go,” she said. “I come from a family of small business owners with politics always in the background the moment I walked into the room. I felt at home studying and becoming a political scientist.”  

Soon after graduating with her bachelor’s degree, Husein was listening to the radio and heard a story about a senator that was staging a sit-in that caught her attention.  

“When I hear something that I’m really interested in, I just track down the person or I find out how things work,” she said. “So, I tracked down the person, and I applied for every single position in the office. And then when I finally got the interview, I actually said “I don’t want this role I applied for, I want this other role instead.”  

Before she knew it, she was interviewing with the senator that she eventually worked for as the Director
of Community Mobilization.  

Husein completed nearly four years working in government culminating as the Chief of Staff at
the State Senate.  

“It was a variety of things that led me into government, into the State Senate,” Husein said. “One, I’ve always been a community organizer, and so I’ve always been a solution driven disruptor. Two, I’ve always been passionate about people. And then three, I really wanted to cultivate greater systems change, I’d done everything I could in my community advocacy at that point in my life, even though that won’t ever stop, it was time to knock down a door in an institution to support greater change.”

And the advocacy work hasn’t stopped. Husein also serves as Deputy Executive Director at Build Our Lives Together (BOLT), a nonprofit that works to empower and cultivate grassroots leaders across Philadelphia.  

Throughout her life, she’s worked with nonprofits, an experience that she describes as very meaningful. 

“I think about it as a sense of obligation,” Husein said. “I don’t think of it as anything other than obligation to one another, because we’re obligated to support each other.”  

In 2024, Husein decided to come back to 20^th and Olney and complete the next step in her educational journey: a master’s degree. 

“I have always loved to love people and communities and always want to find a way to genuinely and authentically be able to be a great communicator,” she said. “I found myself interested in strengthening those skills, so the master’s in strategic communication seemed just the right fit for me.”  

Husein met some of her greatest friends in her graduate program, adding to the Explorer family she built as an undergraduate.  

Her time in the Strategic Communication Master’s Program also inspired her latest project. Husein is currently writing a memoir-style book, split into four sections: short stories, poems, doodles, and images from throughout her life. She started working on the book as an independent study and has since decided to self-publish it.  

Husein has achieved a lot in her short time in government. A Philadelphian American, she’s the only
Arab in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, in 2021 she started Philadelphia Palestine Day, she’s led
 efforts to reduce gun violence in Northwest Philadelphia by 37%, built a pipeline to place young leaders in places of leadership, led a pilot to place Philadelphians in higher paying jobs, conducted a Commonwealth listening tour and released a report to support students on all state university campus’ and she’s been able to support grassroots leaders across the city.  

“Those are a few things I’m most proud of, but I can’t really give one thing because I hope I show up and
do the best that I can every day,” she said. “I deliver for Philadelphia every single day and the
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania every single day. And every day, I wake up thinking about what am
I going to contribute to this world and how am I going to support my neighbor first.”  

That’s how to make change, Husein believes, first by helping yourself and your community.  

“We take care of ourselves first, and we take care of our community first, and that’s how you build a
better world for Philadelphia every day,” she said. “That’s why I do what I do, and I’m really proud of
that.”

Throughout it all, though, there are two things that stand out, not that she’s achieved, but that she is.  

“I’m really proud of being a Philadelphian American,” Husein said. “I’m really proud of being an
Explorer.”

-Naomi Thomas