She\u2019s the power behind the red curtain.<\/p>\n
Zohran Mamdani\u2019s secretive newly named chief of staff Elle Bisgaard-Church<\/a> is a Democratic Socialists of America true believer who convinced the far-left group to back him for mayor and helped craft his \u201cDepartment of Community Safety,\u201d insiders said.<\/p>\n The two 34-year-olds forged similar paths to the heights of New York City political power \u2014 cutting their teeth in antiwar and pro-Palestinian college campus activism and toiling in lefty nonprofits before making the leap into state government.<\/p>\n \u201cFew have played a more central role in this movement, or in every victory we have achieved together in the Assembly, than Elle,\u201d Mamdani gushed Monday, with Bisgaard-Church standing serenely by his side \u2014 as he announced her elevation to City Hall chief of staff.<\/p>\n An Ivy League grad from California, Bisgaard-Church\u2019s path with Mamdani intertwined when she became chief of staff for his state Assembly office upon his election in 2020.<\/p>\n Elle Bisgaard-Church, 34, will serve as Zohran Mamdani\u2019s chief of staff. REUTERS<\/p>\n She then jumped in with both feet as he launched his bid for mayor, serving as campaign manager \u2014 and getting widely credited for his stunning Democratic primary win \u2014 and then as senior adviser.<\/p>\n But Bisgaard-Church fiercely guards her privacy, eschewing social media and rarely granting interviews as the socialist Queens assemblyman turned mayor-elect Mamdani revels in the spotlight.<\/p>\n Her wedding over the summer wasn\u2019t covered in The New York Times or acknowledged on Politico\u2019s Playbook, unlike the nuptials of other high-profile government operatives, and she\u2019s also never appeared on a \u201cCity & State Power List,\u201d according to the outlet<\/a>.<\/p>\n The enigmatic top aide has also no experience in city government \u2014 but insiders said she\u2019s clearly a potent new force in the Big Apple\u2019s far-left-ascendant changing politics who can\u2019t be counted out.<\/p>\n \u201cShe ran a hyper-disciplined campaign that showed a deep understanding of New York City and the pulse of the New York electorate. I think that\u2019s a huge asset going into City Hall,\u201d said Alyssa Cass, a partner at Slingshot Strategies.<\/p>\n Mamdani himself is an outsider to city governance who has so far picked seasoned political veterans \u2014 such as Dean Fuleihan<\/a>, whom he appointed as first deputy mayor the same day as Bisgaard-Church \u2014 to turn his lofty democratic socialist dreams into reality.<\/p>\n Bisgaard-Church is widely credited with leading Mamdani to victory. James Keivom<\/p>\n \u201cYou need someone then who can serve as that translator to your first deputy mayors, to your department heads \u2014 you need someone who speaks Zohran and it\u2019s clear she does,\u201d Cass said.<\/p>\n Bisgaard-Church\u2019s role as Mamdani whisperer may well be rooted in their similar career trajectories.<\/p>\n She attended Swarthmore College, a private liberal arts school in Pennsylvania, majoring in political science and Middle Eastern Studies.<\/p>\n Like Mamdani, who co-founded his school Bowdoin College\u2019s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter<\/a>, Bisgaard-Church got involved in campus activism.<\/p>\n She hosted an antiwar podcast and became deeply involved in the college\u2019s peace and conflict studies department, according to the school\u2019s student newspaper \u2014 which in 2011 detailed a talk she attended by a non-violent Palestinian activist.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really shows what non-violence can accomplish,\u201d she told the paper, echoing Mamdani\u2019s own language on the issue.<\/p>\n After graduating in 2013, Bisgaard-Church hopped around nonprofits in Philadelphia, Santa Cruz and Washington, DC, focused on adult literacy and criminal justice. She made the jump to New York City in 2016 with a Coro public affairs fellowship, according to her LinkedIn.<\/p>\n Mamdani delivers his victory speech at a mayoral election night watch party in New York, Nov. 4, 2025. AP<\/p>\n She obtained her Master\u2019s Degree in public administration from Columbia University and the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2020, when she shifted her focus toward real-world politics by successfully applying to be the recently-elected Mamdani\u2019s chief of staff in the Assembly.<\/p>\n Queens state Sen. Mike Gianaris, a Democrat whose district overlaps with the assemblyman\u2019s, lauded Bisgaard-Church as a \u201cpoint person\u201d on their free bus pilot \u2014 which Mamdani has said he will expand citywide.<\/p>\n \u201cMy experience with her has been excellent. Smart, capable, very professional,\u201d Gianaris said.<\/p>\n Bisgaard-Church, a DSA member, also helped Mamdani nurture ties with the sometimes-fractious socialist group. <\/p>\n She was instrumental in crafting the DSA\u2019s 2021 guiding document that outlined how it would work with elected officials and \u2014 importantly for Mamdani \u2014 later helped convince the group to endorse his nascent longshot mayoral bid, insiders said.<\/p>\n As Mamdani\u2019s campaign caught fire \u2014 in no small part thanks to Bisgaard-Church\u2019s quiet leadership, for which she was paid roughly $11,000 a month<\/a> \u2014 she helped create the idea for the Department of Community Safety, his controversial $1.1 billion proposal<\/a> to have social workers take over many responsibilities from the NYPD.<\/p>\n When Mamdani won June\u2019s Democratic primary over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the crowd at his victory party chanted \u201cElle, Elle, Elle\u201d \u2014 a sign that her time in the shadows was at an end.<\/p>\n Bisgaard-Church still largely skirted widespread media attention aside from a City & State profile<\/a> last month that revealed she\u2019s the only child of a single mother and married in July.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\tStart your day with all you need to know\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMorning Report delivers the latest news, videos, photos and more.\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\tThanks for signing up!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Mamdani\u2019s victory in last week\u2019s mayoral election ensures Bisgaard-Church will be one of the most highly watched members of his unprecedented incoming administration \u2014 the first socialist leader for the nation\u2019s largest city.<\/p>\n Most of Mamdani\u2019s appointments so far have been veterans of former Mayor Bill de Blasio\u2019s administration or longtime civil servants, unlike the youthful, largely inexperienced lefty brain trust<\/a>, including Bisgaard-Church, he surrounded himself with during the campaign.<\/p>\n