Shama Haider

Assemblywoman Shama Haider was born and raised in Pakistan, and she served as a secretary to Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto's wife before emigrating to the United States in 1977. In 2001 and 2015, she was elected to serve on the Tenafly Borough Council, and, in 2021, she became, along with Sadaf Jaffer, one of the first two Muslim women to be elected to the New Jersey state legislature and one of the first three Asian American women to be elected to the legislature (along with Jaffer and Assemblywoman Ellen Park). Assemblywoman Haider currently serves as deputy majority leader and as the chair of the Children, Families and Food Security committee. She also serves on the Appropriations and Health committees.