Sumbul Siddiqui (born 1988) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the 77th mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts. Siddiqui was elected mayor in 2020 by the Cambridge City Council, after serving in the body for 3 years. She succeeded Marc C. McGovern in January 2020, becoming the first Muslim mayor in Massachusetts history.

Early life

Siddiqui was born in Karachi, Pakistan in 1988. She immigrated to the United States from Pakistan when she was two years old, with her parents and twin brother. Her family moved to Cambridge after receiving a lottery spot in Cambridge's affordable housing system. Siddiqui was raised in Rindge Towers in North Cambridge and Roosevelt Towers in East Cambridge. She attended schools in the

Cambridge Public School District ''For primary schools named "Cambridge" see: Cambridge Elementary School (disambiguation)'' The Cambridge Public School District or Cambridge Public Schools is a school district serving Cambridge, Massachusetts in Greater Boston, in the United Stat ...

and graduated from Cambridge Rindge and Latin School in 2006. Siddiqui attended

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, where she was involved in the university's South Asian Students Association. She graduated from Brown in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts in public policy and American institutions. Siddiqui later attended the Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, graduating in 2014 with a JD.

Career

As mayor

In January 2020, Marc C. McGovern announced that he would not seek re-election and endorsed fellow council member Sumbul Siddiqui as his successor. Siddiqui was sworn in on January 6, 2020.

Mayor’s Disaster Relief Fund

She launched the ''Mayor’s Disaster Relief Fund'' for COVID-19 on 16 April 2020, raising over $5 million to help individuals, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations.

Awards

*2020:

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

award *2021: Women's Bar Association of Massachusetts Emerging Women Leaders in the Law award *2021: South Asian Bar Association 2021 Member of the Year *2021: Margaret Fuller House Gala award *2021: Greater Boston Labor Council Labor Champion award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siddiqui, Sumbul 1988 births American people of Pakistani descent American politicians of Pakistani descent Living people Mayors of Cambridge, Massachusetts American mayors of Asian descent Brown University alumni Politicians from Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge Rindge and Latin School alumni Pakistani emigrants to the United States