Rashida Tlaib

Rashida Tlaib was elected to the Michigan House of Representative for the 12th House District (Detroit) in 2008. Rep. Tlaib was raised in Southwest Detroit, the eldest of 14 children and child of Palestinian immigrants. In 2008, she made history by becoming the first Muslim woman elected to the Michigan Legislature.

Prior to being elected, Representative Tlaib worked at a number of nonprofit organizations, including the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services (ACCESS) and the International Institute of Metro Detroit, where she advocated for better access to human services, education, and civil rights. Rep. Tlaib has been a recipient of the Role Model award by Alternatives for Girls. She also was awarded the Emerging Leader award by the National Network for Arab American Communities, Women of Wayne Headliners award, the CAIR Michigan’s Empowering Muslims award and she was recognized as one of Crain's Detroit Business Women to Watch. Most recently, she was named Legislator of the Year by the Michigan Hemophilia Foundation.

Representative Tlaib was appointed to the House Appropriations Committee, where she serves as the Minority Vice Chair of the Judiciary subcommittee and serves on the Community Health and Human Services subcommittees. In 1998, she received her B.A. in Political Science from Wayne State University and her law degree from Thomas Cooley Law School in January of 2004. She resides in Southwest Detroit with her husband Fayez, and her two sons, Adam and Yousif.