Nida Allam didn’t set out to make history. She just wanted a safer North Carolina.
But in 2015, Nida’s life changed forever when her friends Deah Barakat, Yusor Abu-Salha, and Razan Abu-Salha were murdered in their Chapel Hill home in an anti-Muslim hate crime. Deeply affected by the deaths of her friends and determined to carry on their legacy, Nida threw herself into organizing to amplify underheard voices and increase community safety through solidarity. Joining interfaith and multiracial coalitions across the state, Nida became a leading advocate for affordable housing, Medicare for All, a fair living wage, quality education, a Green New Deal, abortion rights, and labor rights in North Carolina.
Along the way, she has inspired a new movement for a more progressive, livable, and equal North Carolina and become one of the most vocal, visible, and vibrant Muslim women in democratic politics today. After running an unprecedented campaign to serve on the Durham County Board of Commissioners in 2020, she became the first Muslim woman ever to hold public office in the state of North Carolina. In 2022, she ran to represent North Carolina’s 4th Congressional District—coming up just nine points short of victory in the most expensive primary in state history, dramatically overperforming despite millions in conservative outside spending. And today, she runs the Brighter Future PAC, a new effort to bolster campaigns for young, progressive, first-time candidates like herself.
As a member of the Board of Commissioners, Nida played an instrumental part in raising the minimum wage for Durham County employees and led the charge to secure property tax relief for low-income Durham residents. She continues to serve on the Board of Directors for Planned Parenthood South Atlantic and was recently named to the Third Cohort of the Hunt Institute’s State Policy Fellows program. Nida served in senior leadership in the North Carolina Democratic Party, as chair of the Durham Mayor’s Council for Women, and as political director for the Bernie Sanders campaign.
The daughter of Indian and Pakistani immigrants, Allam grew up in Wake County, attended North Carolina public schools, and graduated from North Carolina State University (Go Pack!) with a degree in sustainable materials and technology. She lives in Durham with her husband Towqir, her daughter Aaliyah, and their two adorable dogs: Otis and Nala.
