Hi everyone! I'm Zahra Suratwala and I'm running for the DuPage County Board in District 1.

I was born and raised in the Northwest Suburbs and I have lived in Elmhurst for almost 12 years. I have a Masters in English Literature from Loyola University Chicago and I'm a writer, the co-founder of the I Speak for Myself book series which has 7 published volumes to date, a professor of English at Elgin Community College, a community activist, and most importantly, a mother. 

The first time I ran, the journey was incredible because of the people I met. Even though I didn’t win the seat, I consider the campaign a success because of how much we learned, how many connections we made, and my certainty that we pushed the needle forward in positive ways.

This time around, I know how to run an even smarter, more strategic campaign with a focus on continuing the good work we began in 2018. We need to take the majority, increase transparency, promote new sources of revenue, increase diversity, and bring more common sense, kindness, and empathy to local government.