Faiz Shakir facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Faiz Shakir
Shakir in 2012
Born	Florida, U.S.
Education	Harvard University (BA) Georgetown University (JD)
Political party	Democratic

Faiz Shakir is an American political advisor and a member of the Democratic Party. He currently works as a senior advisor for Bernie Sanders and leads a media group called More Perfect Union.

Before this, he was the campaign manager for Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign. He also worked for important leaders in Congress like Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Shakir was the editor-in-chief of the ThinkProgress blog and the political director for the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). He grew up in Florida, and his parents came from Pakistan. He is known for supporting progressive ideas and helping Muslim American communities.

Early Life and Education

Faiz Shakir was born and grew up in Florida. His parents were immigrants from Pakistan.

He went to Harvard University and earned a degree in government. While there, he played on the Harvard baseball team for four years. Later, he studied law at Georgetown University and earned his law degree.

Career Highlights

After finishing law school, Shakir started his career working in government. He was a communications aide for a White House office and a legislative aide for Senator Bob Graham. He also worked on the John Kerry 2004 presidential campaign as a junior staff member.

In 2005, Shakir joined the Center for American Progress. There, he helped create the ThinkProgress blog, which he led as editor-in-chief from 2007 to 2012.

Working in Congress

In 2012, Shakir became the director of new media for Nancy Pelosi, who was a top Democratic leader in the House of Representatives. During this time, he worked to support Muslim American communities.

After that, he became a senior advisor to Democratic Senate Leader Harry Reid from Nevada. People who worked with Reid said that he trusted Shakir's advice a lot, especially on how progressive groups would react to decisions.

Leading Campaigns and Advocacy

Shakir also gave informal advice to Bernie Sanders during his 2016 campaign for president.

In January 2017, Shakir joined the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) as its political director. In March of that year, he helped the ACLU launch a website called People Power. This website encouraged volunteers to get involved in protecting civil liberties. Shakir had suggested the idea for this website to the ACLU Director in 2015, but it was thought to be too bold at the time. The website quickly gained 225,000 volunteers in just eight weeks. They organized many projects, from meetings with judges to film screenings about law enforcement and immigration.

When Shakir joined Bernie Sanders' 2020 presidential campaign in February 2019, he made history. He became the first Muslim and the first Pakistani-American to manage a major U.S. presidential campaign. He and Roger Lau (who managed Elizabeth Warren's campaign) were the first Asian Americans to hold such a role for a major presidential candidate.

In February 2021, Shakir and Nico Pitney started More Perfect Union. This is a nonprofit news and advocacy group that creates videos and graphics to support labor issues. Shakir describes it as a modern version of ThinkProgress for the digital age.

In January 2025, Shakir announced he was running to become the chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC). However, he lost the election to Ken Martin on February 1, 2025.

Personal Life

Faiz Shakir is married to Sarah Miller, who is an advocate against monopolies.