Bushra Amiwala

Bushra Amiwala is a Pakistani-American college student, at DePaul University, and as of April 2019 she is the youngest Muslim elected official in the United States.[1][2] Amiwala was a Democratic candidate for the Cook County Board of Commissioners in the 2018 Illinois Primary Election. She lost to the then 16-year incumbent Larry Suffredin in the Democratic primary election on March 20, 2018.[3] Suffredin then encouraged Amiwala to run for public office shortly after when she announced her candidacy for D73.5 Board of Education, and was elected in April 2019.[4] Amiwala also became the first Muslim person elected to the board of education seat in her district.[5] In February 2020, Bushra Amiwala was awarded the Asian American Coalition of Chicago (AACC) award for exemplary community service and youth excellence.[6]

Bushra Amiwala collecting petition signatures

Biography

Amiwala was born in Chicago and lived in the Rogers Park area until she was 10. Her family then moved to Skokie, where she graduated from Niles North High School.[7] She began her political career as an intern for Republican senator Mark Kirk, and was encouraged by her field office manager, Benjamin Polony, to run her own campaign for the Cook County Board of Commissioners as a college freshman.[8] She came in second in the Democratic primaries, earning 14,988 votes, a total of 30.6% of the vote in a three-person race.[9]

Amiwala began an annual service project on her birthday, and in 2018 made and distributed hundreds of care packages in the Chicago area with Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky, who endorsed her campaign.[10] Amiwala was named one of Glamour Magazine's 2018 College Women of the Year.[11]

Amiwala is an avid public speaker and has spoken in many events such as TEDxDePaul University and Harvard University to name a few.[12] She is one of the subjects of an original documentary called And She Could Be Next on PBS.[13] She is also the female candidate on Amazon Prime's RUN The Series.[14] She is currently the subject of an original Hulu documentary called Our America: Women Forward.[15]

References
  1. "How Bushra Amiwala Became the Youngest Muslim U.S. Elected Official & What She Hopes For Next". Her Campus. 7 August 2019. Archived from the original on 2020-07-22. Retrieved 2020-05-31.
  2. "Bushra Amiwala Is One of The Youngest Muslim Elected Officials". NowThis News. Archived from the original on 2019-09-14. Retrieved 2019-12-05.
  3. "Bushra Amiwala", Ballotpedia. Retrieved on 5 December 2018.
  4. "How To Run For Office". NPR.org. Retrieved 2019-12-05.
  5. "Meet Bushra Amiwala: The DePaul Junior Newly Elected to the Skokie School Board". Fourteen East. Retrieved 2019-12-05.
  6. "Bushra Amiwala receives Exemplary Community Service Award". Des Plaines, IL Patch. 2021-02-22. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
  7. Tucker, Grace. "Niles North alumna running for Cook County Board", Bugle (newspaper), 8 November 2017. Retrieved on 5 December 2018.
  8. Isaacs, Mike. "Muslim teen from Skokie to run for Cook County Board seat", Chicago Tribune, 12 June 2017. Retrieved on 5 December 2018.
  9. "Municipal elections in Cook County, Illinois", Ballotpedia.Retrieved on 5 December 2018.
  10. Bushra Amiwala, Birthday Service Project, retrieved 2019-12-05
  11. Militare, Jessica. "Meet Glamour's 2018 College Women of the Year", Glamour Magazine, 4 June 2018. Retrieved on 5 December 2018.
  12. "TEDxDePaulUniversity | TED". www.ted.com. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  13. POV. "The Film | And She Could Be Next: Discussion Guide | POV | PBS". POV - American Documentary Inc. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  14. "Watch Run | Prime Video". www.amazon.com. Retrieved 2021-02-14.
  15. Baca, Stacey (2021-03-09). "Skokie's Bushra Amiwala is the youngest Muslim elected official in US". ABC7 Chicago. Retrieved 2021-03-12.
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