Nida Allam

Nida Allam (December 15, 1993) is an American politician, political activist, and data analyst. Since 2017 she has served as the Third Vice-Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party and, since 2018, as the Chair of the Durham Mayor's Council for Women. In 2020 she was elected as a member of the Durham County Board of Commissioners, becoming the first Muslim woman to serve in public office in North Carolina. She is one of five women to serve on the Durham County Board of Commissioners, the first time the board has consisted entirely of women in its 139-year history. As Third Vice-Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party, she is the first Muslim American to serve on the party's executive council.

Nida Allam
Third Vice Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party
Assumed office
January 2017
GovernorRoy Cooper
Chair of Durham Mayor's Council for Women
Assumed office
2018
Durham County Commissioner
Assumed office
December 7, 2020
GovernorRoy Cooper
Preceded byEllen W. Reckhow
Personal details
Born (1993-12-15) 15 December 1993
Ottawa, Ottawa–Gatineau, Canada
Political partyDemocratic Party
Spouse(s)Towqir Aziz
ParentsIffat Allam (mother)
ResidenceDurham, North Carolina, U.S.
EducationNeedham B. Broughton High School
Alma materNorth Carolina State University
Occupationpolitician, activist, data scientist

Early life and education

Allam was born on December 15, 1993, in Ottawa, Canada.[1] She is the daughter of immigrants, her father is from India and her mother is from Pakistan.[2][1][3] Allam has two older sisters.[1] When she was five years old her family moved to Brier Creek, a suburb between Raleigh and Durham in North Carolina, after her father took a job with IBM at Research Triangle Park.[2][1] When she was six years old the family moved to the nearby town of Cary.[1] She became a naturalized United States citizen as a teenager.[1] Her mother, Iffat Allam,[4] served as the Chair of the Women's Committee at their mosque.[5] Allam and her mother volunteered at local food banks and helped set up homes for single mothers and refugees in the Research Triangle.[5] A devout Muslim, she did not begin wearing the hijab full-time until she was in eighth grade.[2]

Allam commuted 30 minutes every day to attend magnet schools in downtown Raleigh.[2] She graduated from Needham B. Broughton High School, where she was a member of the varsity lacrosse team.[6][7][1] She grew up with predominately white classmates from elementary school up until high school.[2] As a high school student, she chaired the Triangle Health Fair, a Muslim student-led campaign to partner with local doctors, chiropractors, and dentists to provide free health care to low-income community members.[1]

She graduated from North Carolina State University with a degree in sustainable materials and technology.[2][8] While at university, she founded the NC State For Bernie Club and became Co-Chair of the Triangle For Bernie Club.[1][9]

Career

Allam works as a data analyst for a technology organization in the private sector.[8]

She was inspired to become politically involved after her best friend, Yusor Mohammad Abu-Salha, was one of the three people killed in the 2015 Chapel Hill shooting.[2][10] She had been a bridesmaid at Abu-Salha's wedding that December.[2][9] The shooting targeted members of North Carolina's Muslim community.[2][11] Allam became involved in the grassroots movement and worked as a political director for U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders' 2016 presidential campaign, as well as an organizing director for Justice Cheri Beasley's campaign for the North Carolina Supreme Court.[2][8][12] She was the 2016 Political Director in North Carolina, South Carolina, New Jersey and New York for Sanders' presidential campaign.[5][13]

She is a 2019 alumna of Durham's chapter of the New Leaders Council.[8][14]

Allam decided to run for public office after having worked behind the scenes in the progressive movement and with voter mobilization efforts because she believed there needed to be more progressive candidates representing the diversity of the American people.[2] She was elected as the Third Vice Chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party in January 2017 and was appointed as the Chair of the Durham Mayor's Council for Women, becoming the first Muslim American to serve on the party's executive council, in 2018.[1][15][16] As a member of the Mayor's Council for Women, she advises Mayor Steve Schewel on issues pertaining to the rights of women and LGBTQIA community members, especially non-binary and transgender people.[8] As Third Vice Chair of the Democratic Party in North Carolina, she serves alongside Second Chair Matt Hughes, First Chair Aisha Dew, and Party Secretary Melvin Williams, and State Party Chairman Wayne Goodwin.[17] She served as a delegate at the 2016 Democratic National Convention and the 2020 Democratic National Convention.[18]

Allam was elected to the Durham County Board of Commissioners.[2] She was elected to serve alongside Nimasheena Burns, Wendy Jacobs, Heidi Carter, and Brenda Howerton.[2] This is the first time that Durham County has an all-woman board of commissioners in its 139-year history.[2][19][20] Upon her election, she became the first Muslim woman to hold an elected office in North Carolina.[15][16][21] She received 39,523 votes.[16][22][23] Her election was celebrated by the Council on American–Islamic Relations and Muslim Advocates.[16] She was endorsed by the Durham Association of Educators, Equality North Carolina, and the People's Alliance PAC.[12][24][25] When Allam announced her candidacy for Durham County Commissioner, her family members received Islamophobic hate mail via social media platforms.[1]

She believes that charter schools have increased racial segregation in Durham schools.[12] As a county commissioner, Allam stated she plans to increase the minimum wage of Durham Public Schools classified staff to U.S. $15 an hour and enact property tax assistance programs.[2][16][12] She has stated that evictions and lack of affordable housing opportunities are also a crisis in the county, and referenced the issue of gentrification misplacing Black families from their homes in Durham's historical African-American neighborhoods.[2][12] Allam has also called for more funding and community investment into Durham Public Schools and Durham Technical Community College, saying that education is tied to economic and racial justice issues.[2] Allam supports organized labor unions.[2] She blames the North Carolina General Assembly for inadequate funding for public schools.[12]

Personal life

She lives in Durham with her husband, Towqir Aziz.[8][5] She and Aziz met in a Muslim sunday school.[5] Allam is a member of the Women's Islamic Initiative in Spirituality & Equality.[26] She is a citizen of the United States and Canada, and also holds Pakistani citizenship by descent.[27]

References
  1. "From Tragedy to Trailblazer". THE BITTER SOUTHERNER.
  2. McDonald, Thomasi (November 18, 2020). "Nida Allam Makes History as the First Muslim Woman Elected to Public Office in North Carolina". INDY Week.
  3. "Americans share what it feels like to be told: 'Go back to where they came from'". fox43.com.
  4. "Short lines, 'good energy' at Durham polling places on Election Day". The Chronicle.
  5. "Meet Nida". Nida Allam.
  6. "Nida Allam's High School Timeline". MaxPreps.com.
  7. "Nida Allam's High School Girls Lacrosse Stats". MaxPreps.com.
  8. "Nida Allam | New Leaders Council". www.newleaderscouncil.org.
  9. "'A Really Powerful Witness': How Nida Allam Became NC's First Muslim Woman in Elected Office". Cardinal & Pine. November 9, 2020.
  10. "Chapel Hill Magazine May/June 2020". Issuu.
  11. "A Really Powerful Witness". Zakat Foundation of America.
  12. Allam, Nida (October 14, 2020). "Candidate Questionnaire: Nida Allam, Durham County Commissioner". INDY Week.
  13. "Nida Allam". www.vice.com.
  14. "NLC Convention: Nida Allam". nlcconvention.
  15. "NC DOA : Nida Allam". ncadmin.nc.gov.
  16. Jessica Campisi. "North Carolina woman says she's first Muslim American woman to win elected office in the state". CNN.
  17. NC Democratic Party elects diverse leadership team
  18. "N.C. Delegate Nida Allam on 2020 DNC". spectrumlocalnews.com.
  19. "Meet Nida Allam, the first Muslim woman elected to office in North Carolina". The Daily Tar Heel.
  20. "Durham County commissioner-elect becomes first Muslim woman to hold office in NC". March 5, 2020.
  21. "Durham commissioner candidate first Muslim woman elected to office in NC". ABC11 Raleigh-Durham. March 5, 2020.
  22. Vargas, Chanel (November 3, 2020). "Nida Allam Becomes the First Muslim-American Woman Elected as a North Carolina Official". POPSUGAR News.
  23. Atwell, Ashleigh Lakieva. "Nida Allam Is The First Muslim Woman To Hold Elected Office In North Carolina - Blavity". Blavity News & Politics.
  24. "Why We Support Nida Allam". People's Alliance PAC.
  25. "Equality North Carolina Releases Second Round Of 2020 Endorsements". EqualityNC.
  26. "Nida Allam". November 17, 2020.
  27. "Directorate General of Immigration & Passports, Ministry of Interior, Government of Pakistan". www.dgip.gov.pk. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
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