Missouri Sen. Jamilah Nasheed (D)

Email Address: jamilah.nasheed@senate.mo.gov

Phone: (573) 751-4415

Office Address:
201 W Capitol Ave., Rm. 330
Jefferson City, Missouri 65101

Senator Jamilah Nasheed is a Democrat who represents the 5th Senatorial District in the Missouri State Senate. Born on October 17, 1972, in St. Louis, Missouri, where she currently resides with her husband, Fahim Nasheed, and is caretaker of her 15-year-old cousin, Najawah Williams. Senator Nasheed was elected to the Senate after winning her primary in August 2012.
Since assuming a seat in the upper chamber, Sen. Nasheed has been pivotal in the passing of several important pieces of legislation. In her first session, Sen. Nasheed successfully fought for Senate Bill 125, both protecting students in the St. Louis area from ineffective teachers and creating the “St. Louis Plan” in statute, making teacher dismissals jointly authorized by the teachers union and the school administration.
The 2014 session saw Sen. Nasheed working for the passage of two imperative bills. Senate Bill 532 gives a relative caregiver the right to make medical and educational decisions for the minor in who is in their custody, ensuring a bright future for all of Missouri’s children. Senate Bill 731 helps protect neighborhoods in St. Louis by expanding the definition of nuisance to add that property affecting the value of neighboring buildings, and the property owner is liable for any failure to maintain the property. By championing this cause, Sen. Nasheed proved, once again, that she continues to fight for citizens of St. Louis, giving voice to the voiceless.
Education is of the highest importance to Sen. Nasheed, as evidenced by her continue pursuit of funding for the Math and Science Tutoring Program for students within the St. Louis Public School District, included in House Bills 2002 and 2011. The governor released $500,000 to fund the Math and Science Tutoring Program, which will certainly improve the future of local youth and will further the higher education of many St. Louis students.
In addition to her legislative duties, Sen. Nasheed is a member of the A+ Schools Program. She also crafted legislation regarding the A+ program, which will allow students to go to a 2-year college or technical school at no cost to the parents for students who were in unaccredited school districts. She is also a member of the Order of the Eastern Star fraternal organization.
Furthermore, Sen. Nasheed is a former board member of Inspire STL, which supports middle school students through the high school application process, to empower the community to create better options for parents, and to sustain their momentum through their academic journey.
She is a founder of the “In It 2 Win” Coalition, which finds and returns students who have dropped out, or were pushed out, and assists in returning them to the classroom. Also, the Fresh Start Program, which is a non-traditional program that assists in returning youth between the ages of 17 and 21 back to the classroom to receive their high school diploma.
In 2014, she has been awarded many accomplishments, being a recipient of MOKAN as the Public Sector Executive of the Year Award, the Missouri Workforce Housing Association and has received the Spirit of Justice Award from the St. Louis Bar Foundation.
For over a decade, Sen. Nasheed was the owner and operator of the first female African-American independent bookstore in the city of St. Louis, Sankofa Books and Gifts, an inner-city bookstore. The bookstore mission was to promote the importance of reading. Senator Nasheed attended Roosevelt High School in St. Louis, and, years later, received her high school General Equivalency Diploma. She is currently working on a degree in communications.