Abdimaalik and Mohammed, born in Somalia, came to Norway as 13-year-olds in 2002. Growing up between East and West Oslo, they learned early on how to navigate the cultural differences between home, school, and their local community. They experienced exclusion, discrimination, and other challenges of being immigrants in Norway. More than twenty years later, with secure jobs in IT and finance, they still saw the same challenges in society and decided to use their experiences to create change​.

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By chance, in October 2020 on LinkedIn, they met Sophie, a design anthropologist who shared the same vision of a society built on the diverse competencies of all its citizens. Despite the distances caused by COVID-19, they came together as a team through countless Zoom calls and cups of tea. Months later, they founded DIGNA, the first cultural navigation platform for refugees and immigrants in Norway.