News 12 sat down with one of the first two South Asian American council members, Shahana Hanif, to chat about what it means to her to represent the very district she says raised her.

Hanif was born in Kensington, a neighborhood made up of primarily South Asian Americans. The council member told News 12 about the COVID recovery efforts her team has been working on in order to keep some of the community staples alive, like Bangladeshi markets, grocery stores and restaurants.

Hanif says it's around these particular neighborhoods that she is working to improve street sanitation issues, promote education equity and to expand open streets and funding for parks and classrooms.