By Melissa Moore-Randall
When her third grade classmates and friends were watching cartoons, Minnah Sheikh was practicing her inaugural address.
“When I was 9 years old, I was absolutely convinced I was going to be President of the United States. Most 9 year olds get home from school and do the usual stuff like watch cartoons. I practiced my inaugural address. So one day, at the dinner table, I thought it was time to make things official and announce my candidacy to my family.”
“Instead of explaining to me that I could not base the entirety of my platform on the inadequacies of slush flavors on field day, my mother took my ambitions and broke them down into three major action steps: working hard, studying, and going to college. If I did that, I would “make it.” I vividly recall completing an extra credit question for my third grade teacher, Ms. Randall, on Mitt Romney and later doing a project on Jacqueline Kennedy. Those experiences both fed into me becoming a politics nerd and I love Ms. Randall for it!”
A rising senior at Wesleyan University majoring in Government and Economics, Minnah is the only child of parents from Pakistan who immigrated to the United States at the age of 16.
In addition to being a full-time student, Minnah is also Executive Chair of the Committee to Elect Patrick Keefe,a subcontractor for the Dewey Square Group, a member of the leadership team of A Healthier Democracy, Chair of the Revere Democrats, and a Senior Intern for the Wesleyan Office of Admission.
Sheikh understands that everyone knows that young people don’t vote. However, like most she can’t seem to figure out why.
“The dominating explanatory narrative is that Gen-Z is apathetic toward politics or politically disengaged. I wanted to reshape that narrative.”
“When I discovered that Patrick Keefe was running for Mayor back in March of 2023, I sent him a Twitter DM. Being only 20 years old and relatively new to the campaign world, most people in his position would have brushed me aside. But not Patrick. He wanted his campaign, much like his administration, to represent and embody all of Revere’s citizens including and especially its young people.”
“No matter my youth, gender, race, or religion, Pat believed in me. I designed a youth strategy plan for Pat’s campaign, specifically targeting the often-overlooked demographic of 18-25-year-olds, aka Gen-Z. The plan outlined the best ways to engage young people, from peer-to-peer relational organizing to having Pat do TikTok dances. And it worked!”
“There is power in young people. We motivated over 500 young people under the age of 25 to vote, breaking records for voter turnout in the Revere elections. So take it from me, our campaign slogan “Believe in Revere” is more than just words—believing is imperative. Mayor Keefe unequivocally believes in the city of Revere, in its people, in its community, and in me.”
Upon graduation in May 2025, Minnah Sheikh plans to continue her career in public affairs and political consulting, with a particular focus on government relations.
When asked if she would be interested in a career in politics Minnah replied, “I am a proud byproduct of Revere – shaped by its community, culture, and resilience. My priority is to serve this community in the best way I can, regardless of what that may look like – whether that involves running for office, organizing people power, or another form of civic engagement.”
Mayor Patrick Keefe sees a lot of Revere Pride when it comes to Minnah. “Minnah was one of my first calls when I decided to run for Mayor. I knew of her organizational talent and abilities in campaigning from her early days as she ran for class secretary. Although she didn’t carry the title due to her school commitment Minnah was our Campaign Manager. Pretty big weight to carry not only being a full time college student, but organizing a successful campaign for a mayor’s race is a decent resume builder. Seeing this 5 foot tall young lady establish herself amongst some of the largest consulting firms in the Northeast was quite impressive. Minnah was built for this, if you go back and watch her speech at HS graduation it’s easily on my short list for most impactful speech from a student. She inspired me. Everything that Minnah has accomplished and continues to will never surprise me, because she is that good. Minnah is a giant amongst us, don’t let her size fool you, she makes me so proud to know she will always represent Revere with dignity and respect.”
