Maya Wiley Running For New York Mayoral Elections? Insight On Her Career And Personal Life

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Maya Wiley Running For New York Mayoral Elections? Insight On Her Career And Personal Life

Maya Wiley's chances as a New York City mayoral candidate have increased after Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) - one of the most prominent leaders in the United States, endorsed Wiley during the city mayor run on June 05, 2021. 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

A post shared by Maya Wiley (@mayawiley4nyc)

AOC expressed her support by stating-

"If we don’t come together as a movement we will get a New York City built by and for billionaires, and we need a city by and for working people...So we will vote for Maya No1."

Further, Wiley is the first black woman to be elected as the mayor of New York. 

Wiley started as a serving Counsel to the Mayor of New York between 2014 and 2016. She advocates for sweeping changes by expanding affordable broadband access across New York for human & gender equity while stressing the effectiveness of the City's support for women/minority-owned businesses.

Background On Wiley's Daughters And Husband 

Maya is easily one of the most revered racial justice and equity experts, working not only in the greater New York City Area but the whole of America.

Listed as 100 Most Influential People in New York City by State Magazine for two consecutive years in 2014 and 2015, she also chairs the New York City Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB), an independent oversight agency for the City’s Police Department.

Wiley is married to Harlan Mandel, who is a respected name in the world of finance. Presently the CEO of Media Development Investment Fund(MDIF), Harlan is a business lawyer by profession and holds a law degree from Columbia University Law of School.

Maya Wiley (left) and her daughters, Naja (right) and Kai (middle), smile for a selfie (Photo:- Maya Wiley's Twitter)

The couple lives with their daughters- Naja and Kai, along with four cats in Brooklyn. 

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Grew Up In A Political Family

Maya's war against social injustices and racism runs deep!

Daughter to civil rights icon George A. Wiley & a white mother, Wretha Frances (Whittle) Wiley, her parents' passion more or less shaped her formative years. She often credits her family's long struggle with race-related politics for sprouting progressive ideologies in her.

Although her parents never battled financial woes, they would often spend a large chunk of time surrounded by people on welfare. In a 2014 interview with Politico, she explained-

“We were not a disadvantaged family. And yet I spent much of my childhood in a really low-income neighborhood in an inner-city school and with parents who were fighting very hard [in] the intersection of race and poverty in America.. "

Safe to say, she hasn't let her parents down with her activism, and neither has her brother. In a way, she gave continuity to the family legacy by founding the Center for Social Institution. Further, Wiley also has an older brother who is involved in politics. 

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Life As TV Pundit & Commencement Speaker

Since August 2018, Maya has been an NBC News contributor and MSNBC News's in-house legal analyst. 

A graduate of Dartmouth College in Psychology, the mother of two earned her law degree from Columbia University School of Law in 1989.

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On 24th May 2019, Maya addressed The Sage Colleges’ Class of 2019 at its 102nd Commencement. At the time of the announcement, the President of Sage Colleges, Christopher Ames, hoped that her speech would bridge the gap in the divisive American society.

Her other notable contributions include working for the Open Society Foundation in the U.S. and South Africa, the NAACP Legal Defense & Educational Fund, Inc., the American Civil Liberties Union, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.