Bushra Amiwala

Bushra Amiwala is an award-winning activist, media icon, dynamic speaker and the first Gen Z elected official in the United States.

At the age of 19, she announced her candidacy for the Cook County Board of Commissioners, with the goal to serve as a voice for her underrepresented generation and other marginalized communities. She empowers communities, has broken barriers and stands as a shining example of resilience and determination in her pursuit of positive change.

Her leadership has extended far beyond her campaign as she’s inspired countless others to increase their civic participation. As a result, she’s been named Glamour magazine’s College Woman of the Year, Seventeen magazine’s Voice of the Year, and internationally as CosmoGirl’s Change Maker of the Year. Amiwala was awarded the Women’s Champion Award sponsored by the United Nations, has graced the cover of TIME magazine, and was recognized as Forbes Magazine’s “Woman to Watch” in 2021.

In addition to these awards, Amiwala is the subject of an original PBS documentary called And She Could be Next, the female candidate on Amazon’s RUN the Series, has just debuted in a Hulu documentary called Our America: Women Forward, and she has made hundreds of TV and radio appearances, including outlets such as Fox, CBS, NPR, ABC, and PBS.

Amiwala has spoken at countless colleges and universities, organizations and international companies, with live audiences ranging from 25 to 15,000 people. She has extensive experience and successful leadership across information technology, non-profit organizations, primary & secondary education, and civic & social organizations. She holds her elected seat on the Skokie Board of Education, as its youngest member, is a candidate at Kellogg, Northwestern School of Management pursuing her MBA part-time and continues to work as a Solutions Consultant at Google.