The list is topped overall by singer Christina Aguilera.
By Deepak Chitnis
WASHINGTON, DC: South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has landed another feather to put in her impressive cap: Working Mother magazine has listed her among the “50 Most Powerful Moms of 2014.”
Haley placed #20 on the list, a high ranking for the Republican head of state who is seeking re-election this November. This is Haley’s first time making the annual ranking, which set out to recognize “power moms from around the globe [who] have demonstrated the talent, business acumen, innovative spirit and sheer guts to make a formidable impact on the world in so many compelling ways.”
Haley is the mother of two children: 15 year-old Rena, and 12 year-old Nalin, both of whom she raised alongside her husband, Michael Haley. In its blurb accompanying the listing of Haley as the world’s 20th most powerful working mother, the magazine credits the Governor for “[breaking] a lot of political ground” by becoming South Carolina’s first Indian-origin Governor and first female Governor, all while juggling a hectic domestic schedule.
“”Everybody was telling me why I shouldn’t run: I was too young, I had small children, I should start at the school board level,” Haley told The New York Times, in a quote provided by Working Mother magazine.
“I went to Birmingham University, and Hillary Clinton was the keynote speaker on a leadership institute, and she said that when it comes to women running for office, there will be everybody that tells you why you shouldn’t but that’s all the reasons why we need you to do it, and I walked out of there thinking ‘That’s it. I’m running for office,’” Haley said.
The list is topped overall by singer Christina Aguilera. Other notable celebrities on the list include Christiane Amanpour (#3), Beyonce (#7), Cate Blanchett (#9), and Sandra Bullock (#11). In the political sphere specifically, Haley is ranked third-highest, beaten only by US Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Mathews Burwell (#13) and Democratic New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (#18).
Born in South Carolina to Sikh immigrants from Amritsar, Haley went to Clemson University and received her bachelor’s degree in accounting. Her political career began in 2004, when she was elected as to the House of Representatives for South Carolina’s Lexington County, making her the first Indian-Americans to ever hold office in that state.
She became governor of the state in 2009, becoming the first woman to hold that office. She is currently the youngest governor in the US, at age 42.