Who is Nabeela Syed, the Indian-American, who made history in US midterm elections

Nabeela Syed has written history by becoming the Illinois General Assembly's youngest member. The 23-year-old  Democrat, Indian-American won the most recent US midterm elections, defeating Chris Bos of the Republican Party. In the race for the Illinois State House of Representatives' 51st District, she received 52.3% of the vote.

Nabeela, was raised in Illinois' Palatine and graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a double major in political science and business.

Syed advocates interfaith dialogue and works to empower young Muslim women to take on leadership roles within her religious community at the Islamic Society of Northwest Suburbs.

According to her website, Nabeela has collaborated with a number of organisations, such as EMILY's List, to raise money to elect Democrats to Congress. She presided over a nonprofit consulting firm that assisted neighbourhood businesses.

She is currently employed by a non-profit where she supports various civic engagement initiatives through digital strategy, such as mobilising voters, preventing sexual assault on college campuses, and advancing gender equity.

Expressing joy on her victory in the elections over Twitter, Syed said, “My name is Nabeela Syed. I am a 23-year-old Muslim, Indian-American woman. We just flipped a Republican-held suburban district.”

She added, “And in January, I'll be the youngest member of the Illinois General Assembly.”

Syed further wrote in a follow-up tweet, “Thank you thread incoming tomorrow. We had an incredible team that made this possible.”

Additionally, Nabeela Syed posted a lengthy essay on Instagram detailing her journey. She described her purpose as follows: “When I announced for State Representative, I made it a mission to genuinely engage in conversation with people – to give them a reason to get involved in our democracy and hope for better leadership that represents their values.”

She won this race, Syed continued, “because we engaged in that conversation.”

Thanking everyone for their support, Syed wrote, “I knocked every door in this district. Tomorrow, I start knocking them again to thank them for placing their trust in me. I'm ready to get to work.”