ISLAMABAD: Lina Khan, a British-born lawyer of Pakistani descent and former chair of the US Federal Trade Commission, has been named co-chair of New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s all-women transition team.
New York City mayor-elect Mamdani, on Wednesday, named five women to co-chair his transition team as he prepares to take office on January 1, according to AFP.
The transition team includes co-chairs Lina Khan, Maria Torres‑Springer, Grace Bonilla, Melanie Hartzog, and Elana Leopold as the executive director.
In a statement shared on the social media platform X, Lina Khan expressed confidence that Zohran Mamdani has the vision and courage they actually deliver, adding that it was an honor for her to be part of the transition team.
Here are brief profiles of the transition team members:
Lina Khan
The US Federal Trade Commission’s website says that Lina Khan served as chair of the Federal Trade Commission from June 15, 2021, to January 20, 2025.
Before joining the FTC, Khan served as counsel to the US House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law. She was also an associate professor at Columbia Law School. Khan is a graduate of Williams College and Yale Law School.
According to Columbia Law School’s website, Khan has been named to the Politico 50, Foreign Policy magazine’s Global Thinkers, Prospect magazine’s Top 50 Thinkers, WIRED25, National Journal 50, and Time magazine’s Next Generation Leaders.
She is a recipient of the Reinhardt Fellow 2016-2017, a scholarship for demonstrated commitment to public interest law. She has also won awards such as the Israel H. Peres Prize for best Note or Comment appearing in the Yale Law Journal (2017); Michael Egger Prize for best Yale Law Journal Note on current social problems (2017), and Arthur B. Graves Essay Prize for best essay in political theory (2010), according to Khan’s CV available on the US Senate Committee on Housing’s website.
According to an international media report, Khan was born in London in 1989 to Pakistani parents. The family emigrated to the US when she was 11.
Maria Torres-Springer
Maria Torres-Springer resigned her post as deputy mayor under outgoing Mayor Eric Adams due to his engagement with US President Donald Trump, according to AFP.
According to the New York City (NYC) government’s website, Torres-Springer has served as the deputy mayor for housing, economic development, and workforce development.
Torres-Springer previously was vice president of US Programs at the Ford Foundation, commissioner of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, and also a president and CEO of the New York City Economic Development Corporation.
Grace Bonilla
According to the NYC government’s website, Grace Bonilla has served as the president and CEO of United Way of New York City (UWNYC) since July 2022.
Before her role at UWNYC, Grace held leadership positions across the nonprofit sector, including senior vice president for Latin America at Covenant House International.
Melanie Hartzog
According to The New York Foundling’s website, Melanie Hartzog is the nonprofit's CEO and president. Hartzog was the deputy mayor of New York City for Health and Human Services. She previously served as the director of the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget.
Hartzog holds a Master of Science degree from the New School’s Milano School of International Affairs, Management and Urban Policy and a Bachelor of Arts from Eckerd College.
Elana Leopold
Elana Leopold is a progressive political strategist and runs Seneca Strategies, New York’s first women-run political consulting firm, according to an international publication.
Landslide victory
Mamdani, 34, broke the one-million-vote mark, earning 50% of the vote, compared to his closest rival, 67-year-old former state governor Andrew Cuomo, who won just shy of 42% in the largest turnout since 1969.
