Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui is currently serving her second term on the Cambridge City Council, and first as Mayor of Cambridge. Mayor Siddiqui immigrated to the United States from Karachi, Pakistan at the age of two, along with her parents and twin brother. She was raised in Cambridge affordable housing at the Rindge Towers and Roosevelt Towers and attended Cambridge Public Schools, graduating from Cambridge Rindge and Latin. Mayor Siddiqui’s passion for service motivated her to co-found the Cambridge Youth Council, now in its 19th year, earning her a Cambridge Peace and Justice Award in 2006 for her activism. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Public Policy from Brown University, Mayor Siddiqui served as an AmeriCorps fellow at New Profit, a then Cambridge-based organization dedicated to improving social mobility for families. Upon earning her J.D. from Northwestern’s Pritzker School of Law, she moved home to practice as a legal aid attorney with Northeast Legal Aid, serving low-income residents in Greater Boston.
As Mayor, her priorities include increasing housing equity, advancing racial justice, supporting local businesses, and improving Cambridge Public Schools, and leading Cambridge through the COVID-19 pandemic. In response to this crisis Mayor Siddiqui:
Launched the Mayor’s Disaster Relief Fund, which has raised over $5 million dollars to help individuals, small businesses, and nonprofit organizations
Started Cambridge RISE , one of the first guaranteed income pilots in the country
Sponsored the Tenant Rights and Resources Notification Act
Increased internet access to low-income families to equitably participate in remote learning
As a City Councilor last term, she chaired the Mayor’s Task Force on Tenant Displacement , increased funding to legal aid services, and advanced the Condominium Conversion Ordinance. Mayor Siddiqui, who serves as chair of the School Committee, has promoted equitable access to education for Cambridge families by increasing scholarship funding for low-income children to attend high quality preschools and by implementing a Children’s Savings Account program along with the City Manager’s Office and Cambridge Public Schools, helping families build dedicated savings for post-secondary education. Mayor Siddiqui has sponsored numerous community events, including Cambridge Digs DEEP , a series of Citywide forums and workshops on racial justice, and held an annual Cambridge Community Iftar during the month of Ramadan. She has helped preserve the City’s existing expiring-use affordable housing at the Rindge Towers, and has collaborated with residents and advocates to clean up and revitalize the area around Jerry’s Pond, an environmental justice site in North Cambridge. In addition she has led efforts to bring halal food to the Cambridge Public Schools, and eliminated library fines that disproportionately affect low-income residents and families of color.
Mayor Siddiqui looks forward to continuing to make Cambridge a more equitable and civically engaged community.
Contact
Sumbul Siddiqui ssiddiqui@cambridgema.gov
617 448-1525 (cell)
Photos
Download Headshot Download Portrait
Photo Credit: Kyle Klein Photography