Art & Culture

5 Facts About Rama Duwaji — The First Gen Z First Lady of New York

BYMille Team

November 5, 2025

Leave it to The New York Post to call a 28-year-old artist “the aloof wife steering Mamdani’s campaign behind the scenes.” Whatever that means. Because if you’ve ever come across Rama Duwaji’s work, or, frankly, her presence, you’d know there’s nothing “aloof” about her.

On Tuesday, her husband, Zohran Mamdani, made history as New York City’s first Muslim mayor and the youngest in over a century, after defeating both Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa in Tuesday’s elections. The 34-year-old swept the race with over 50% of the vote, cementing a new political chapter for the city, and, by extension, for Duwaji, who’s now being hailed (half-jokingly, half-seriously) as New York’s first Gen Z First Lady.

But behind every lazy headline and viral clip, there’s a woman with her own story. Here are five things to know about the artist, advocate, and woman quietly redefining what political partnership looks like in 2025.

She’s Syrian, but born in Texas

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A post shared by RAMA DUWAJI (@ramaduwaji)

Rama Duwaji’s story begins far from New York politics. She was born in Texas to Syrian parents, growing up between two cultures before her family relocated to Dubai when she was nine. That early cross-continental upbringing would later shape both her worldview and the human themes that underpin her art.

She’s a seriously accomplished illustrator and artist

Before any of this Gracie Mansion talk, Duwaji was busy building a seriously impressive career. Her illustrations— instantly recognizable for their dreamy palettes and raw honesty— have appeared everywhere from The New Yorker and The Washington Post to Vogue, Apple, Spotify, and Tate Modern. She even illustrated something for MILLE, which naturally makes her one of our favorites.

She grew up in Dubai

When she was nine-years-old, Duwaji’s family moved to Dubai, where she spent much of her childhood and teen years. She later went on to study in the US, earning a BFA in Communication Design from Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and then a Master’s in Illustration at School of Visual Arts in New York.

She met her husband on Hinge

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A post shared by RAMA DUWAJI (@ramaduwaji)

Forget the old-school power couple meet-cutes. Rama and Zohran met the way half of Gen Z and millennials do: on Hinge. They matched in 2021, went for Yemeni coffee at Qahwah House in Brooklyn, then a second date in Astoria, Queens— his future mayoral turf. Fast-forward a few years and that swipe has turned into a marriage, a campaign, and now a spot in New York City history.

She’s a vocal human rights advocate

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A post shared by RAMA DUWAJI (@ramaduwaji)

Duwaji’s work doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Her illustrations, ceramics, and posts often engage directly with Palestine, Syria, Sudan, and the wider ecosystem of people living through war, displacement, and state violence. Since 2023, she’s produced multiple works on the genocide in Gaza and art supporting victims of the Sudanese civil war (she credits Palestinian painter Sliman Mansour as one of her inspirations). “With so many people being pushed out and silenced by fear,” she said in a Yung interview, “all I can do is use my voice to speak out about what’s happening in the U.S., Palestine, and Syria as much as I can.”

5 Facts About Rama Duwaji — The First Gen Z First Lady of New York

She’s Syrian, but born in Texas

She’s a seriously accomplished illustrator and artist

She grew up in Dubai

She met her husband on Hinge

She’s a vocal human rights advocate

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5 Facts About Rama Duwaji — The First Gen Z First Lady of New York

She’s Syrian, but born in Texas

She’s a seriously accomplished illustrator and artist

She grew up in Dubai

She met her husband on Hinge

She’s a vocal human rights advocate

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