Nimarata Nikki Haley (née Randhawa; born January 20, 1972) is an American politician who served as the 116th governor of South Carolina from 2011 to 2017. She was the 29th United States ambassador to the United Nations from January 2017 to December 2018. Haley was born in Bamberg, South Carolina, and earned an accounting degree from Clemson University. She joined her family's clothing business before serving as treasurer and then president of the National Association of Women Business Owners. First elected to the South Carolina House of Representatives in 2004, she served three terms. In 2010, during her third term, she was elected governor of South Carolina, and won re-election in 2014. Haley was the first female governor of South Carolina, the youngest governor in the country and the second governor of Indian descent (after fellow Republican Bobby Jindal of Louisiana). She was the first female governor of Asian American heritage. In 2017, Haley became the first Indian American member of a presidential cabinet. Haley served as United States ambassador to the United Nations from 2017 to 2018, following confirmation by the U.S. Senate in a 96–4 vote, and upon taking the oath of office on January 27, 2017. Haley affirmed the United States's willingness to use military force in response to further North Korean missile tests in the wake of the 2017–2018 North Korea crisis. She defended U.S. interests, particularly U.S. support of Israel, at the Security Council, and led the withdrawal of the U.S. from the United Nations Human Rights Council. She decided to voluntarily step down as Ambassador on December 31, 2018. Haley is a candidate in the 2024 Republican Party presidential primaries for president of the United States in the 2024 U.S. presidential election. She announced her campaign in February 2023. Early life and education Haley was born Nimarata Nikki Randhawa on January 20, 1972, at Bamberg County Hospital in Bamberg, South Carolina, to immigrant Sikh parents from Punjab, India. Her father, Ajit Singh Randhawa, and her mother, Raj Kaur Randhawa, emigrated to the United States from Amritsar District, Punjab, India. Her father was formerly a professor at Punjab Agricultural University, and her mother received her law degree from the University of Delhi. Haley was known by her middle name, Nikki, a Punjabi name, from her earliest years. Haley's parents moved to Canada after her father received a scholarship offer from the University of British Columbia.