Khadra Mohammed is the co-author, along with Karen Lynn Williams, of Spirit of the Cheetah: A Somali Tale (January 2021). Julia Cairns contributed the delicate and vibrant illustrations. The book is a Somali coming-of-age tale about a boy who needs to win a race but who must first discover how to capture the spirit of that fastest running animal on the planet, the cheetah, in order to accomplish his goal.
Ms. Mohammed and Karen Lynn Williams previously collaborated on the acclaimed Four Feet, Two Sandals (Book of the Month selection by the Rutgers University Project on Economics and Children; List of Notable Books for a Global Society) and My Name is Sangoel.

Khadra Mohammed was the executive director of the Pittsburgh Refugee Center from 2003 until 2015. She is Somali, grew up in the UAE, and has worked with refugees in the U.S. and in refugee camps in Kenya, Pakistan, and Yemen for more than thirty years.

She is the recipient of numerous awards, including the Girl Scouts Woman of Distinction in 2005, and was honored with the 2005 "40 under 40" Award from the Pittsburgh Urban Magnet Project (PUMP) and Pittsburgh Magazine. In her free time, Khadra reads to refugee children from Africa and around the world. The mother of three children, she lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.